Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) Trading Down 6.3% – Should You Sell?

Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) dropped 6.3% on Monday . The company traded as low as $542.24 and last traded at $541.5680. 33,214 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 124,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at $577.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dillard’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $577.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $608.47.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $1.59 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $10.39 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 35.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dillard’s news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $6,183,177. This represents a 3.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 34.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dillard’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DDS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Dillard’s by 24.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 28,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,624,000 after acquiring an additional 5,604 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 50,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,682 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,423,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 818.6% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 4,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

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.