Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR)

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 148,634 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 146% compared to the average daily volume of 60,434 put options.

Dollar Tree Price Performance

NASDAQ DLTR opened at $71.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a PE ratio of -15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 1.03. Dollar Tree has a 52-week low of $60.49 and a 52-week high of $151.21.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The company reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.05. Dollar Tree had a positive return on equity of 16.89% and a negative net margin of 3.34%. The business had revenue of $7.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar Tree will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DLTR shares. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up previously from $67.00) on shares of Dollar Tree in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar Tree from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Dollar Tree from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Dollar Tree from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Dollar Tree in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 target price on the stock. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar Tree presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DLTR. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in Dollar Tree by 50.0% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,872,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,693,000 after acquiring an additional 957,275 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar Tree by 488.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,044,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,531,000 after purchasing an additional 867,054 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in Dollar Tree by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,525,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,264,000 after purchasing an additional 746,913 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Dollar Tree by 165.4% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,028,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,803,000 after purchasing an additional 640,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Dollar Tree during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,576,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Dollar Tree Company Profile

Dollar Tree, Inc operates retail discount stores. The company operates in two segments, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. The Dollar Tree segment offers merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.25. It provides consumable merchandise, which includes everyday consumables, such as household paper and chemicals, food, candy, health, personal care products, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise comprising toys, durable housewares, gifts, stationery, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, arts and crafts supplies, and other items; and seasonal goods that include Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day merchandise.