Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Downgraded to “Hold” at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $90.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on DG. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $141.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Dollar General from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $118.48.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $82.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $82.68 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly 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). Dollar General had a return on equity of 22.80% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 7.21 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $508,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at $381,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Wallace Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth about $368,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.