Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

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

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on DDS. Zacks Research raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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, Weiss Ratings downgraded Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $521.33.

Dillard’s Trading Up 0.6%

DDS opened at $554.48 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 $8.66 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $560.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $594.38.

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

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Dillard’s

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DDS. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 28,394.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Dillard’s by 18.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 142,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,343,000 after purchasing an additional 22,400 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dillard’s by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 116,577 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,686,000 after buying an additional 12,863 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Dillard’s by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 73,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,652,000 after buying an additional 7,123 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Dillard’s by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 67,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,167,000 after buying an additional 14,718 shares during 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.