The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) had its price objective trimmed by The Goldman Sachs Group from $122.00 to $104.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. HSBC decreased their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded shares of Dollar General from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.27.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG traded up $1.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.59. The stock had a trading volume of 6,926,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,770,983. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.60. 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 company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General has a 52-week low of $72.12 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,030 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,397,284.90. The trade was a 2.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company's stock worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company's stock worth $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,355,000 after buying an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.