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

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.27.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter worth $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 117.7% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $74.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $72.12 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.69.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.