Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives $96.77 Average Target Price from Analysts

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-three ratings firms that are currently 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 given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $96.77.

DG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth $46,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.0 %

Dollar General stock opened at $72.59 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.92 and a 200-day moving average of $88.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm 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%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.