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

Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 593.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,386 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing 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 have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Dillard’s by 322.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,257,000 after buying an additional 2,680 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Dillard’s by 110.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Dillard’s by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 44,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,009,000 after purchasing an additional 6,913 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Dillard’s during the 1st quarter worth about $3,746,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Dillard’s from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Zacks Research cut Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $521.33.

Dillard’s Stock Down 0.6%

Dillard’s stock opened at $613.04 on Friday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $456.69 and a fifty-two week high of $741.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 2.37. The company has a market capitalization of $9.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $570.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $588.49.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $1.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 31.43% and a net margin of 10.09%.The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $10.39 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director J C. Watts, Jr. sold 400 shares of Dillard’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.18, for a total value of $243,672.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,183,177. The trade was a 3.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 34.80% of the company’s stock.

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.