Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Shares Up 3.7% – What’s Next?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s stock price rose 3.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $93.70 and last traded at $93.53. Approximately 5,484,108 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 49% from the average daily volume of 3,692,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.13. The company has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Dollar General by 14.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Centiva Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 5,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549 shares during the period. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 46.4% in the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 23.9% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 11,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,213 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.