Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on DDS. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $368.00 to $458.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on Dillard’s from $175.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $397.33.

Dillard’s Price Performance

Shares of DDS opened at $609.16 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $597.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $491.66. Dillard’s has a fifty-two week low of $282.24 and a fifty-two week high of $637.73. The stock has a market cap of $9.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $4.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.87. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 30.55% and a net margin of 8.87%.The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $11.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Dillard’s will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.60, for a total transaction of $445,950.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,094,650. This represents a 6.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dillard’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DDS. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Dillard’s by 7.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Dillard’s by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Dillard’s by 12.3% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 293 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Dillard’s by 3.5% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 959 shares of the company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Dillard’s

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.