Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stake in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS – Get Rating) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,251 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Dillard’s worth $7,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DDS. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Dillard’s by 7.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dillard’s in the first quarter worth about $447,000. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Dillard’s by 15.1% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 37.1% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 2,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $745,000 after purchasing an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 5.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 420,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,794,000 after purchasing an additional 20,327 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DDS. StockNews.com lowered Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $286.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $380.00 to $325.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $225.50.

Dillard’s Price Performance

DDS opened at $283.73 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $308.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $337.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.41. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.00 and a 52 week high of $417.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 5.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 21st. The company reported $14.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.85 by $5.65. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.11 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 54.80%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.28%. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1.63%.

Dillard’s Company Profile

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Dillard’s, Inc engages in the retail of fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings, and other consumer goods. It operates through the Retail Operations and Construction segments. The Retail Operations segment comprises sells cosmetics, ladies’ apparel, ladies’ accessories and lingerie, juniors’ and children’s apparel, men’s apparel and accessories, shoes, and home and furniture products.