Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Trading Up 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s stock price rose 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $80.43 and last traded at $80.34. Approximately 2,314,775 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 3,401,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DG shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.09.

Dollar General Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $194,832,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $140,421,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.