Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s share price was down 3.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $73.12 and last traded at $73.38. Approximately 318,906 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,280,715 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Melius Research started coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

Dollar General Trading Down 2.3 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.16. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.88%.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,355,000 after purchasing an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. 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.