Vest Financial LLC Cuts Stake in Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Vest Financial LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 25.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,131 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,055 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $3,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DDS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 790.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Dillard’s by 220.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Dillard’s by 110.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dillard’s during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Dillard’s during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. 67.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dillard’s Price Performance

Shares of Dillard’s stock opened at $641.65 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $654.89 and a 200 day moving average of $586.54. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 52 week low of $282.24 and a 52 week high of $741.97. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 2.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported $8.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.88. Dillard’s had a net margin of 8.90% and a return on equity of 30.50%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DDS. Zacks Research raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Dillard’s from $184.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $411.00 to $524.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Dillard’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $511.33.

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.