Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 17,345 Shares of Dillard's, Inc. $DDS

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly increased its stake in Dillard's, boosting its ownership by 1,231.0% in Q1, holding about 18,754 shares valued at $6.7 million by the end of the period.
• Dillard's reported $4.66 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.79, and achieved a slight year-over-year revenue increase to $1.51 billion.
• Brokers have set varying price targets for Dillard's shares, with Telsey Advisory Group increasing their target from $450 to $550 and UBS lowering theirs from $170 to $175.

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) by 1,231.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,754 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,345 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP owned about 0.12% of Dillard's worth $6,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Dillard's by 3,989.8% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 37,790 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,315,000 after acquiring an additional 36,866 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Dillard's by 47.0% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 81,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,307,000 after purchasing an additional 26,132 shares during the period. Summit Street Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dillard's during the 4th quarter valued at $9,155,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Dillard's by 84.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 46,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,623,000 after purchasing an additional 21,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dillard's by 218.3% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 26,569 shares of the company's stock worth $11,471,000 after purchasing an additional 18,221 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DDS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Dillard's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Dillard's from $368.00 to $458.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on shares of Dillard's from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Dillard's from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Sell" and an average price target of $394.33.

Dillard's Trading Up 5.1%

DDS stock traded up $25.7420 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $532.5420. The company had a trading volume of 105,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 133,609. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 1.06. Dillard's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $282.24 and a 52 week high of $535.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $459.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $410.70.

Dillard's (NYSE:DDS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $4.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.87. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Dillard's had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dillard's, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard's Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is an increase from Dillard's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Dillard's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.