Dark Forest Capital Management LP Raises Stock Position in Dillard's, Inc. $DDS

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Dillard's, Inc. by 966.9% in Q1, owning approximately 0.09% of the company worth nearly $4.95 million.
• Dillard's recently reported a quarterly EPS of $4.66, surpassing estimates, with a net margin of 8.87% and revenue of $1.51 billion.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.2% and a positive shift from the previous dividend of $0.25.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) by 966.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,816 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,521 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned 0.09% of Dillard's worth $4,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Dillard's by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,216,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Dillard's by 12.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 293 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Dillard's by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dillard's by 62.3% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 99 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Dillard's by 26.2% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 284 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dillard's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DDS traded up $4.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $575.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 172,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,000. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $487.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $414.71. Dillard's, Inc. has a one year low of $282.24 and a one year high of $579.55. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Dillard's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. This is an increase from Dillard's's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. Dillard's's payout ratio is presently 3.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DDS shares. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Dillard's from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dillard's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Dillard's from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Dillard's from $368.00 to $458.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Sell" and an average target price of $394.33.

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.