Fifth Third Bancorp Acquires Shares of 6,607 Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,780,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DDS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 108.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 48 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Dillard’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Dillard’s during the third quarter worth about $33,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Dillard’s by 790.0% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Dillard’s by 6,300.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total value of $243,672.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,183,177. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Dillard’s Stock Up 0.7%

DDS stock opened at $548.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $560.17 and a 200-day moving average of $595.05. Dillard’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $449.64 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.13 by $5.91. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 10.09%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DDS. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $521.33.

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.