Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Upgraded by Melius to “Buy” Rating

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Melius from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $110.00 target price on the stock. Melius’ target price indicates a potential upside of 27.51% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on DG. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays lowered their target price on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.75.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $86.27 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Dollar General has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $156.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.20. The company has a market capitalization of $18.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.21, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DG. Leibman Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 27,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Kwmg LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 53,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,802 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 1st quarter worth $213,000. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.