Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-three ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a hold recommendation, eight have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.27.

DG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,053 shares of the company's stock worth $21,401,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Dollar General by 17.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,517,000 after acquiring an additional 10,333 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.82. 3,499,799 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,308,697. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $72.12 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The company's 50 day moving average price is $77.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

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.