Sowell Financial Services LLC Takes $266,000 Position in Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Dillard's by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 1,862 shares of the company's stock worth $804,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in Dillard's by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 211,561 shares of the company's stock worth $91,339,000 after acquiring an additional 20,155 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Dillard's by 107.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 77,050 shares of the company's stock worth $33,266,000 after acquiring an additional 39,858 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Dillard's in the 4th quarter worth $7,270,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Dillard's in the 4th quarter worth $519,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DDS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Dillard's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Dillard's in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Dillard's from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

Dillard's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DDS traded up $6.72 during trading on Friday, reaching $405.28. 146,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 146,108. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $377.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $406.03. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.00. Dillard's, Inc. has a 12-month low of $282.24 and a 12-month high of $510.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Dillard's (NYSE:DDS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 15th. The company reported $10.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.10 by $1.29. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Dillard's had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 8.93%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $11.10 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dillard's, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.25%. Dillard's's payout ratio is currently 2.76%.

About Dillard's

Dillard's, Inc engages in the retail of fashion apparel, cosmetics, and home furnishings, and other consumer goods. It operates through the Retail Operations and Construction segments. The Retail Operations segment comprises sells cosmetics, ladies' apparel, ladies' accessories and lingerie, juniors' and children's apparel, men's apparel and accessories, shoes, and home and furniture products.