Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Grows By 7.7%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the October 15th total of 6,080,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $76.51. 2,261,317 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,195,826. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $81.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.57. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.65%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The trade was a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 9,007 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company's stock valued at $441,899,000 after acquiring an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 5.7% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 64,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,014,000. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 66,736 shares of the company's stock worth $5,644,000 after purchasing an additional 12,863 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bernstein Bank cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.