Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Trading Up 3.3% – Here’s Why

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s stock price shot up 3.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $85.05 and last traded at $85.34. 1,115,199 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,538,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $75.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,036,000 after buying an additional 160,853 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,425,000 after purchasing an additional 118,204 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $399,433,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.