Wall Street Zen Downgrades Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) to Hold

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on DDS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Dillard’s from $524.00 to $449.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $184.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $519.67.

Dillard’s Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE DDS opened at $604.62 on Friday. Dillard’s has a 12 month low of $282.24 and a 12 month high of $741.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $640.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $618.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.30.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $13.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by $3.07. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 27.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $13.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dillard’s will post 33.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DDS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Dillard’s by 28,394.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,354,000 after acquiring an additional 225,734 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in Dillard’s by 756.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 70,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,554,000 after buying an additional 62,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dillard’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,598,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Dillard’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,813,000. Finally, Man Group plc grew its stake in Dillard’s by 464.3% in the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 38,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,846,000 after acquiring an additional 31,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Company Profile

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.