BMO Capital Markets Boosts Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $84.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $80.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

DG has been the topic of several other reports. Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

Dollar General Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of DG stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. Dollar General has a fifty-two week low of $72.12 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.33. The stock has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. This represents a 2.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,683,000 after buying an additional 26,813 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after buying an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth $9,587,000. 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.