Wall Street Zen Downgrades Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) to Hold

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on DDS. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dillard’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $521.33.

Dillard’s Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE DDS opened at $576.04 on Friday. Dillard’s has a 1-year low of $410.19 and a 1-year high of $741.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $577.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $609.01. The company has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 31.43%. Dillard’s’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Dillard’s will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Dillard’s

In related 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 transaction of $243,672.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dillard’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Dillard’s by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 480.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dillard’s in the 1st quarter worth $114,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 81.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 10,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,159,000 after purchasing an additional 4,844 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi acquired a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the first quarter worth $238,000. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.