Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.77.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% during the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 26,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after purchasing an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Down 5.6 %

Dollar General stock opened at $74.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

About Dollar General

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.