Brokerages Set Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) PT at $521.33

Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $521.3333.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DDS shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research downgraded Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dillard’s news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of Dillard’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 34.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dillard’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $137,354,000 after purchasing an additional 225,734 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Dillard’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,598,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Dillard’s in the third quarter worth about $31,813,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 1,331.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 40,715 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,293,000 after buying an additional 37,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 31,929 shares during the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

DDS opened at $613.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.59 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $569.93 and a 200 day moving average of $588.84. Dillard’s has a fifty-two week low of $451.80 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97.

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

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.