Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Position in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its holdings in Dillard’s, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) by 86.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,698 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Dillard’s were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Dillard’s by 177.3% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,509,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dillard’s by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Dillard’s by 85.3% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 215 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of Dillard’s by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 261 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. 67.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DDS. UBS Group raised their price objective on Dillard’s from $200.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Dillard’s in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dillard’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

Dillard’s Price Performance

Shares of DDS opened at $320.94 on Monday. Dillard’s, Inc. has a one year low of $282.24 and a one year high of $510.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $378.69 and its 200-day moving average is $411.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.26 and a beta of 0.66.

Dillard’s (NYSE:DDS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. Dillard’s had a return on equity of 32.13% and a net margin of 9.55%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $15.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Dillard’s, Inc. will post 33.25 EPS for the current year.

Dillard’s Cuts Dividend

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

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.