Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Rating Increased to Buy at Melius

Melius upgraded shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. Melius currently has $110.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

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Dollar General Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of DG traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.11. 4,210,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,843,195. Dollar General has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $153.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.25. The firm has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. Dollar General's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.83 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 8,426.1% in the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Dollar General by 323.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock worth $178,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,776 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock worth $892,199,000 after buying an additional 1,528,450 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

About Dollar General

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.