Northern Trust Corp Buys 6,683 Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,217 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,683 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.16% of Dillard’s worth $10,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DDS. Clientfirst Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Dillard’s during the fourth quarter worth $48,873,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 107.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 77,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,266,000 after buying an additional 39,858 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 47.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 81,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,307,000 after buying an additional 26,132 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 352,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,975,000 after buying an additional 25,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 211,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,339,000 after buying an additional 20,155 shares during the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DDS has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Dillard’s in a report on Friday.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

Shares of DDS stock opened at $418.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $347.50 and a 200-day moving average of $408.67. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Dillard’s, Inc. has a one year low of $282.24 and a one year high of $510.00.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $10.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.10 by $1.29. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 32.13%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $11.10 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is currently 2.76%.

About Dillard’s

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.