Vestcor Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Vestcor Inc reduced its holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 66.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 451 shares of the company’s stock after selling 901 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DDS. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 229.1% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,002,000 after acquiring an additional 12,704 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,796,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $384,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Dillard’s during the third quarter worth $125,388,000. 67.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DDS. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Dillard’s in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Dillard’s from $200.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

DDS opened at $363.02 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $5.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.89. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 52-week low of $328.00 and a 52-week high of $510.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $443.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $416.23.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $13.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.84 by $3.64. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 billion. Dillard’s had a net margin of 9.55% and a return on equity of 32.13%. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $15.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dillard’s Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is 2.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dillard’s

In other news, VP Tom W. Bolin sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.45, for a total value of $130,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,167 shares in the company, valued at $505,836.15. This represents a 20.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Dillard’s Company 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.