Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.05.

DG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered shares of Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 2.25 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. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $76.07 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $82.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.25.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,187.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business’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 transaction of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after buying an additional 8,388,735 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Dollar General by 11.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,790,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Dollar General by 11.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,155,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031,593 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,257,000 after purchasing an additional 765,206 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Dollar General by 319.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,324,000 after purchasing an additional 704,639 shares during the period. 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.