Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Trading 3.3% Higher – What’s Next?

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) traded up 3.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $85.05 and last traded at $85.34. 1,115,199 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,538,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DG. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.72. The stock has a market cap of $18.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. 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 (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Dollar General by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,465,000 after buying an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 74.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares during the period. Probity Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its stake in Dollar General by 714.4% during the fourth quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 25,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 22,255 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 390.9% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 12,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 9,897 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently 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.