Dillard's, Inc. (DDS)

Hmmm something may be going on funny here
http://www.footnoted.org/buried-treasure/what-are-they-shopping-for-at-dillards/

eh it's "meh" retailer running big losses last two Q's with debt anyway.

Dillard's, Inc. operates retail department stores located primarily in the southeastern, southwestern and midwestern areas of the United States. Merchandise offerings include men's, women's and children's apparel and accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings and other consumer goods. The company operates 329 retail departmental stores in 29 U.S states.

The departmental sector is very competitive with players like J.C Penny, Federated department stores and Kohl gaining strong foothold. Along with much higher store base, these companies have been able to deliver superior financial performance. On the other hand, Dillards has not been aggressive on store openings and the number of stores has actually gone down since the past five years. Same-store sales, one of the key retail metrics, have displayed wretched performance with negative growth over past many years. Moreover, total retail sales in traditional departmental stores industry dropped 13% in the last five years, which does not bode well for the company.

Additionally, revenue growth over the years has been negative. Furthermore, the year-to-date fiscal performance has been bleak with hardly any rise in the top line. The sad story continues with 2% decline in November sales. Also, the company has huge pile of debt on its balance sheet, which could deteriorate the operating performance. Margins are also showing declining trend since past three quarters. With dull financial performance and no strong initiatives in line, Dillards looks like a laggard.

Department stores are struggling, we all know that - but this company is the worst of the bunch - there is a reason they are named one of the least admired companies every single year.

Bleeeeagh! Underperforming "dullard" of a company in the highly-competitive low-margins clothing retailer business. Cannot count the number of competitors on my fingers and toes, and every one of them has a better position in the market than this company.

I think the department store consolidation movement has passed them by. All the biggies have their regional acquisitions now and nobody's sniffing around DDS. Has some significant holdings in mall real estate, but that's losing value by the hour.

On top of all that, Morningstar has given them a big X for financial accountability and transparency.

Unfortunately this isn't a Christmas movie, so we might not get a happy ending this year.

This met a high level screen to indicate a buy and strong outperform against its peers (other tickers in its industry). My 1st version of this spreadsheet devles deep into the company's balnace sheet and recent income statements, combined with other relevant price data for the company including insider/institutional holdings, short interest, debt levels, etc.
Testing capabilities of this 1st version of my automated, valuation spreadhseet matched with my personal criteria and see how it holds up.

dillard's will gradually get back to $17-20 range. It runs exceptional sells and family-run. The down side has been its change to GE fanancial services.

trend PS test

THE COMPANY IS WORKING HARD TO MAKE IT SELF BETTER.

DDS has an illiquid balance sheet. It is also loss making.

If you don't know why this is going to underperform class, then you have not been paying attention.

retail is a tough business in this environment.

Higher end retail stores are not going to be singing christmas carols this year

Awful balance sheet, poor inventory and real estate management. DDS is an antiquated retailer that failed to adjust and is paying the price.

at a new lows buy buy

worst 30days caps

This Christmas is going to start the demise of these higer volume retailers. With the exception of Wal-Mart and Kohl's (which I really don't put in the same category) these merchandisers are going to take an absolute beating. My guess - companies like Dillard's are going to start massive layoffs / shutdowns just after the holiday sales numbers are announced as the most paltry numbers on record.

TDRH Play

This is a thought, single family homes sales is seeing a leveling off for the beggining of the summer months at least. Therefore a company that furnishes those houses should be able to bennefit from this short lived relief in the housing crash....