Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

DDS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s Stock Up 2.4%

DDS opened at $569.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $560.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $594.13. The company has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.15. Dillard’s has a 1 year low of $449.64 and a 1 year high of $741.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total transaction of $243,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,183,177. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dillard’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 28,394.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 226,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,354,000 after acquiring an additional 225,734 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,598,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Dillard’s during 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 worth $23,293,000 after purchasing an additional 37,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 464.3% during the third quarter. Man Group plc now owns 38,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,846,000 after purchasing an additional 31,929 shares during the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.