Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on DDS. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on Dillard’s from $475.00 to $380.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Dillard’s from $202.00 to $194.00 and set a sell rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th.

Dillard’s Price Performance

NYSE:DDS opened at $346.17 on Monday. Dillard’s has a 52 week low of $286.39 and a 52 week high of $476.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $387.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.38.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported $4.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.97 by ($1.38). Dillard’s had a net margin of 9.94% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Dillard’s will post 31.2 EPS for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is 2.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert C. Connor bought 100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $346.82 per share, with a total value of $34,682.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 78,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,051,960. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 33.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Dillard’s during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Dillard’s during the 1st quarter worth about $68,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Dillard’s by 430.3% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 175 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Dillard’s by 31.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 330 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $150,000. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Dillard’s

Dillard's, Inc operates retail department stores in the southeastern, southwestern, and midwestern areas of the United States. The company's stores offer merchandise, including fashion apparel for women, men, and children; and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, and other consumer goods.