Franklin Resources Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DDS. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dillard’s during the fourth quarter worth about $1,543,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA acquired a new position in Dillard’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $254,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Dillard’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,484,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 37.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Dillard’s by 805.7% during the 4th quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 11,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on DDS. StockNews.com cut Dillard’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Dillard’s in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Dillard’s from $200.00 to $202.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th.

Dillard’s Stock Performance

NYSE DDS opened at $320.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $382.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.39. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.66. Dillard’s, Inc. has a 1 year low of $282.24 and a 1 year high of $510.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Dillard’s Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Dillard’s’s payout ratio is 2.71%.

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.