BMO Capital Markets Cuts Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $80.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $90.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 4.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Melius Research began coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $76.51 on Monday. Dollar General has a twelve month low of $73.51 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DG. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Dollar General by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,790,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Dollar General by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,155,141,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031,593 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted 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 worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.