Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

DDS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DDS opened at $589.01 on Monday. Dillard’s has a 1 year low of $449.64 and a 1 year high of $741.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $561.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $594.01.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.13 by $5.91. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 10.09%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Dillard’s will post 35.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is presently 2.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total transaction of $243,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,183,177. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dillard’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Dillard’s by 108.7% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 48 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the third quarter worth about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 790.0% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 6,300.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

About Dillard’s

Dillard’s, Inc (NYSE:DDS), headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a U.S.-based department store chain founded by William T. Dillard in 1938. Over more than eight decades of operation, the company has grown from a single store in Nashville, Arkansas, to a prominent retailer with a national footprint. Dillard’s equity is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DDS.

The company operates approximately 280 departmental stores across 29 states, offering a broad assortment of merchandise that includes men’s and women’s apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and home furnishings.