Walleye Capital LLC Raises Position in Dillard's, Inc. $DDS

Key Points

• Walleye Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in Dillard's, lifting it by 428.9% to own 5,226 shares valued at approximately $1.87 million.
• Dillard's recently reported quarterly earnings of $4.66 per share, exceeding analysts' estimates and reflecting a 1.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.30, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Walleye Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) by 428.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,226 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,238 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC's holdings in Dillard's were worth $1,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DDS. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Dillard's by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 783 shares of the company's stock worth $338,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dillard's in the 4th quarter valued at about $556,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Dillard's by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 5,136 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,216,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dillard's in the 4th quarter valued at about $439,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Dillard's by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $900,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dillard's Stock Down 2.8%

NYSE DDS traded down $15.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $531.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 114,599 shares, compared to its average volume of 145,426. Dillard's, Inc. has a 52 week low of $282.24 and a 52 week high of $553.18. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $472.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.44.

Dillard's (NYSE:DDS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported $4.66 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $11.09 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Dillard's, Inc. will post 33.25 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 30th. 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. Dillard's's payout ratio is 2.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on DDS. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Dillard's from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Dillard's from $368.00 to $458.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Dillard's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Dillard's from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One equities research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Sell" and a consensus 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.