Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Short Interest Up 7.7% in October

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the October 15th total of 6,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The trade was a 1.23 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 117.7% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.6 %

Dollar General stock opened at $77.09 on Tuesday. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $73.51 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.57.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

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.