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

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-three research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.27.

DG has been the subject of several research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 453.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,355,000 after acquiring an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DG opened at $75.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.52. Dollar General has a fifty-two week low of $72.12 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. 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 $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 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.