Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Given New $88.00 Price Target at HSBC

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at HSBC from $100.00 to $88.00 in a research report issued on Friday. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. HSBC’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.13% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on DG. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup downgraded Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.45.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded down $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $75.78. 2,026,922 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,192,223. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The company has a market cap of $16.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.84.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This trade represents a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Dollar General by 85.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 278.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after buying an additional 47,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,587,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.