Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target Lowered to $90.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $110.00 to $90.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on DG. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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, Daiwa America lowered shares of Dollar General from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.45.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.88. 3,704,309 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,199,770. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $168.07. 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 $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $81.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.38.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares of the company's stock, 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $865,903,000 after buying an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth $194,832,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Dollar General by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,790,023 shares of the company's stock worth $3,244,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Dollar General by 11.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,155,141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,031,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 148.6% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,257,000 after purchasing an additional 765,206 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.