Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Dollar General (NYSE:DG)

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 34,256 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 66% compared to the typical daily volume of 20,660 call options.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on DG. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of DG traded up $2.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.19. The stock had a trading volume of 4,948,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,684,163. The company has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.88. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year 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 results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.