Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 1,438 Shares of Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 4.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,438 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $17,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC raised its position in Dillard’s by 26,618.5% in the first quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC now owns 186,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,694,000 after acquiring an additional 185,531 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake 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 worth $43,554,000 after purchasing an additional 62,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 75.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,468 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,238,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 21,199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DDS opened at $630.31 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11 and a beta of 1.25. Dillard’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $282.24 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $637.51 and a 200-day moving average of $556.33.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.26%.

Insider Activity at Dillard’s

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 750 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DDS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Dillard’s from $411.00 to $524.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Dillard’s from $184.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dillard’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $511.33.

Dillard’s Company Profile

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.