Dollar General (DG) & Its Competitors Head-To-Head Review

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is one of 149 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Dollar General to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Volatility and Risk

Dollar General has a beta of 0.19, suggesting that its share price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dollar General’s peers have a beta of 0.44, suggesting that their average share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.8% of Dollar General shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Dollar General shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Dollar General and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dollar General	1	15	13	0	2.41
Dollar General Competitors	2243	8278	10070	459	2.42

Dollar General presently has a consensus target price of $137.96, indicating a potential upside of 0.39%. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 57.15%. Given Dollar General’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Dollar General has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Dollar General and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dollar General	3.90%	18.93%	5.21%
Dollar General Competitors	-25.86%	3.88%	2.96%

Dividends

Dollar General pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Dollar General pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 37.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Dollar General and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dollar General	$42.72 billion	$1.51 billion	17.87
Dollar General Competitors	$34.77 billion	$846.26 million	17.22

Dollar General has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Dollar General is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Dollar General beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation is an American discount retailer that operates neighborhood stores offering everyday essentials at value-oriented prices. Its merchandise includes food and household supplies, cleaning products, health and beauty items, seasonal goods, apparel, and home products, with a mix of national brands and private-label products. The company traces its roots to J.L. Turner & Son, a family-owned business established in 1939. The first store operating under the Dollar General name opened in Springfield, Kentucky, in 1955.