American Century Companies Inc. Buys 773 Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,328 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $18,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Dillard’s by 62.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Dillard’s by 220.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 93 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 110.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 139 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 186.3% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Dillard’s by 51.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dillard’s Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of DDS opened at $676.96 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.19, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $616.56 and its 200-day moving average is $523.95. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 12 month low of $282.24 and a 12 month high of $737.73.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The company reported $8.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.43 by $1.88. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 30.50% and a net margin of 8.90%.The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.73 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 EPS 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 payout ratio is 3.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.60, for a total transaction of $445,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,094,650. This represents a 6.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DDS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Dillard’s from $184.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Dillard’s from $411.00 to $524.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Dillard’s from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $511.33.

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.