M&T Bank Corp Makes New Investment in Dillard's, Inc. $DDS

Key Points

• M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Dillard's of 9,878 shares in Q4, valued at about $5.99 million, representing roughly 0.06% ownership.
• Several large institutions (AQR, Gotham, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Balyasny) have increased or initiated positions, and institutional investors now hold about 67.15% of the stock.
• Analysts have grown cautious: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $519.67, below the recent share price (~$597), and multiple firms have cut targets or downgraded the stock (e.g., JPMorgan to $449/underweight).

M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,878 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,989,000. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.06% of Dillard's as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dillard's by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 103,714 shares of the company's stock worth $63,730,000 after acquiring an additional 12,699 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Dillard's by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 66,519 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,875,000 after acquiring an additional 22,991 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Dillard's by 75.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 66,142 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,687,000 after purchasing an additional 28,468 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Dillard's by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 65,548 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,388,000 after purchasing an additional 11,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Dillard's during the third quarter worth $31,813,000. 67.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on DDS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Dillard's in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Dillard's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Dillard's from $700.00 to $650.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Dillard's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $519.67.

Dillard's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DDS opened at $596.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.65 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $599.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $623.80. Dillard's, Inc. has a one year low of $324.06 and a one year high of $741.97. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 1.27.

Dillard's (NYSE:DDS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $13.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.98 by $3.07. Dillard's had a return on equity of 27.55% and a net margin of 8.81%.The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $13.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Dillard's, Inc. will post 32.52 EPS for the current year.

Dillard's Announces Dividend

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

Dillard's Company 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.

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