Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Given New $93.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective reduced by The Goldman Sachs Group from $104.00 to $93.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on DG. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $71.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 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 has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.41.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $382,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in Dollar General by 698.0% during the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 259,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,576,000 after purchasing an additional 226,779 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its position in Dollar General by 533.6% during the fourth quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 64,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,928,000 after purchasing an additional 54,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Sentry LLC now owns 6,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. 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.