Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its target price decreased by Bank of America from $95.00 to $90.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on DG. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.26.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $79.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.74. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $164.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently 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.