Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives $153.08 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $153.08.

A number of research firms have weighed in on DG. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $139.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $221.50.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Dollar General will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DG. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 78.0% during the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 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.