Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 122,374 Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 24.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 369,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122,374 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 2.32% of Dillard’s worth $132,249,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DDS. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 3,989.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,315,000 after purchasing an additional 36,866 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 81,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,307,000 after purchasing an additional 26,132 shares during the period. Summit Street Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Dillard’s in the fourth quarter worth about $9,155,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 218.3% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 26,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,471,000 after purchasing an additional 18,221 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Dillard’s in the first quarter worth about $5,571,000. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dillard’s Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE DDS opened at $505.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $456.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $410.26. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.06. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $282.24 and a 1-year high of $533.23.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $4.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 8.87%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Dillard’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is presently 2.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DDS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Dillard’s from $368.00 to $458.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Dillard’s from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Dillard’s from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus target price of $394.33.

Dillard’s Profile

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.