Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $74.85, but opened at $78.62. Dollar General shares last traded at $79.90, with a volume of 1,388,907 shares trading hands.

The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.18. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.09.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General 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 directly owns 15,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Probity Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $265,000. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its holdings in Dollar General by 714.4% in the 4th quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 25,370 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 22,255 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its holdings in Dollar General by 390.9% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 12,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 9,897 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $12,114,000. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 71,070 shares of the company's stock worth $5,389,000 after purchasing an additional 27,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.69. The stock has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

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.

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