J Watts, Jr. Sells 750 Shares of Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Stock

Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) Director J Watts, Jr. sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.60, for a total value of $445,950.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,094,650. This trade represents a 6.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Dillard’s Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of DDS stock opened at $592.87 on Friday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $282.24 and a 1 year high of $637.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $571.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $459.20. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.09.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.87. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 30.55% 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Dillard’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is currently 3.31%.

Institutional Trading of Dillard’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Monument Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $281,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 756.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 70,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,554,000 after purchasing an additional 62,608 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $431,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $328,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on DDS shares. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on Dillard’s from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $394.33.

Dillard’s Company 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.