Morgan Stanley Downgrades Dollar General (NYSE:DG) to Equal Weight

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) was downgraded by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $100.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $170.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 18.76% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on DG. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group cut Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $133.38.

Dollar General Trading Down 32.0 %

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $84.20 on Friday. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $84.00 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $123.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.79. The company has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 22.80% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Dollar General will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 12.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 689 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 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.