Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target Lowered to $94.00 at Bernstein Bank

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its target price decreased by Bernstein Bank from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note released on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DG. Bank of America cut their price objective on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lowered shares of Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, September 27th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.45.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock traded down $1.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.88. The company had a trading volume of 3,704,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,199,770. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $73.51 and a 52 week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 85.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after purchasing an additional 26,813 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Dollar General by 231.6% during the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 278.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP purchased a new position in Dollar General in the second quarter worth about $9,587,000. 91.77% of the stock is 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.