Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Dillard’s, Inc. $DDS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,036 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,564 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Dillard’s worth $5,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DDS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake 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 last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 18.3% in the first 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. raised its holdings in Dillard’s by 75.6% in the first 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 shares of Dillard’s during the first quarter valued at about $3,746,000. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dillard’s Price Performance

Shares of DDS stock opened at $591.07 on Tuesday. 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 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $638.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $623.10.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $13.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.98 by $3.07. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.03 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 27.55%. Dillard’s’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $13.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Dillard’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DDS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Dillard’s from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Dillard’s from $524.00 to $449.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dillard’s in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Dillard’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. 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 has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $519.67.

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.