Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 7.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 306,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,134 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $188,200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DDS. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Dillard’s by 756.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 70,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,554,000 after acquiring an additional 62,608 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 75.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,468 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Dillard’s in the second quarter worth about $10,238,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Dillard’s by 14.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 91,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,029,000 after buying an additional 11,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Dillard’s by 21.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,388,000 after buying an additional 11,640 shares in the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

Shares of DDS stock opened at $606.19 on Tuesday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 12-month low of $282.24 and a 12-month high of $741.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $640.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $619.69.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $13.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.98 by $3.07. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 8.81%.The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $13.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 EPS for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DDS has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price on Dillard’s from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $184.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $524.00 to $449.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $519.67.

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.