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

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have issued a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $113.95.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group cut shares of Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE DG opened at $86.01 on Monday. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $108.42 and a 200 day moving average of $129.69.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,819.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,819.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DG. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 16,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at $1,061,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $3,791,000. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth about $508,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth about $381,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.