Gordon Haskett Downgrades Dollar General (NYSE:DG) to Reduce

Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) from a hold rating to a reduce rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays cut their price target on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Melius raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have assigned 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 an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.75.

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Dollar General Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE DG traded up $1.24 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $90.28. The company had a trading volume of 3,263,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,846,322. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $150.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.35 and a 200 day moving average of $78.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.