Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Holdings in Dillard's, Inc. $DDS

Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS - Free Report) by 617.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,242 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,954 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Dillard's worth $3,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DDS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in 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 buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC grew its position in Dillard's by 2,980.0% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 154 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Dillard's by 986.7% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 163 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd acquired a new stake in Dillard's during the fourth quarter valued at $70,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Dillard's by 7,566.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 230 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.15% of the company's stock.

Dillard's Trading Down 1.8%

DDS stock traded down $10.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $575.12. 112,512 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 139,873. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $500.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $417.78. Dillard's, Inc. has a 1 year low of $282.24 and a 1 year high of $586.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 0.99.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.87. Dillard's had a net margin of 8.87% and a return on equity of 30.55%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $11.09 earnings per share. Dillard's's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Dillard's, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost 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 2.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DDS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dillard's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of 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 lifted their target price 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. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Sell" and an average price target of $394.33.

Dillard's Profile

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.