Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Rating Lowered by Gordon Haskett

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Gordon Haskett from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $72.21 on Tuesday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $74.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

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