Target (TGT) Competitors

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) and Target (NYSE:TGT) are both large-cap retail/wholesale companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, institutional ownership, community ranking, dividends, profitability, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DG or TGT?

Target received 6294 more outperform votes than Dollar General when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 89.52% of users gave Target an outperform vote while only 67.08% of users gave Dollar General an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Dollar General	Outperform Votes 1204 67.08%	Underperform Votes 591 32.92%
Target	Outperform Votes 7498 89.52%	Underperform Votes 878 10.48%

Is DG or TGT more profitable?

Target has a net margin of 4.06% compared to Dollar General's net margin of 3.33%. Target's return on equity of 31.11% beat Dollar General's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dollar General	3.33%	18.85%	4.27%
Target	4.06%	31.11%	7.77%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, DG or TGT?

Target has higher revenue and earnings than Dollar General. Target is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Dollar General, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dollar General	$40.61B	0.45	$1.66B	$5.11	16.27
Target	$106.57B	0.46	$4.14B	$8.86	12.24

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of DG or TGT?

91.8% of Dollar General shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.7% of Target shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Dollar General shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Target shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer DG or TGT?

In the previous week, Dollar General had 39 more articles in the media than Target. MarketBeat recorded 59 mentions for Dollar General and 20 mentions for Target. Dollar General's average media sentiment score of 0.64 beat Target's score of -0.18 indicating that Dollar General is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Dollar General	24 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	23 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Target	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is DG or TGT a better dividend stock?

Dollar General pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Target pays an annual dividend of $4.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Dollar General pays out 46.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Target pays out 50.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Target has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years. Target is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend DG or TGT?

Dollar General presently has a consensus target price of $92.26, indicating a potential upside of 10.94%. Target has a consensus target price of $145.55, indicating a potential upside of 34.23%. Given Target's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Target is more favorable than Dollar General.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dollar General	1 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29
Target	1 Sell rating(s)	17 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41

Which has more risk & volatility, DG or TGT?

Dollar General has a beta of 0.44, suggesting that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Target has a beta of 1.18, suggesting that its share price is 18% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Target beats Dollar General on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.