Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.75.

A number of research firms have issued reports on DG. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Dollar General Stock Up 4.2 %

DG stock opened at $93.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.41. The company has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. 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 $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 989 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,548,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 39.4% during the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Dollar General

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.