Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 593.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,386 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,898 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DDS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 191 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 110 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 1,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

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 transaction, 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 owned by company insiders.

Dillard’s Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of DDS stock opened at $613.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $9.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $570.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $588.49. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 1-year low of $456.69 and a 1-year high of $741.97.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported $16.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.13 by $5.91. Dillard’s had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 31.43%. The business had revenue of $1.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $10.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 35.26 EPS for the current year.

Dillard’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is presently 2.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $460.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s 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.