Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.96.

Several analysts have weighed in on DG shares. Melius Research upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 8,426.1% in the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Dollar General by 323.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,491,000 after buying an additional 1,797,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 5,440.2% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,004 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 14.9%

Shares of DG stock traded up $14.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.66. 10,162,903 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,030,473. The business has a 50 day moving average of $92.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $141.24. The company has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Dollar General's payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

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.