Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and three have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $545.6667.

DDS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $465.00 to $468.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $496.00 to $519.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th.

Insider Transactions at Dillard’s

In other Dillard’s news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 10,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,183,177. This trade represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DDS. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 41,908.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,739,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $919,218,000 after buying an additional 1,735,418 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 18.7% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dillard’s by 12.4% during 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. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $44,652,000 after buying an additional 7,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:DDS opened at $620.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 3.03. The firm has a market cap of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.15. Dillard’s has a 52 week low of $503.06 and a 52 week high of $741.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $579.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $586.09.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $6.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by $1.96. The firm had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 31.88% and a net margin of 10.48%. On average, equities analysts expect that Dillard’s will post 35.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2.75%.

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.