Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Hits New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $70.10 and last traded at $70.31, with a volume of 1141698 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $71.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DG. Barclays dropped their target price on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank decreased their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.18.

Dollar General Stock Down 3.0 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Dollar General by 231.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 26,165 shares in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth $2,018,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company's stock worth $14,087,000 after buying an additional 64,336 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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.