Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Decreases By 18.2%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,870,000 shares, a drop of 18.2% from the March 31st total of 10,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DG traded down $0.31 on Friday, hitting $90.24. 3,769,986 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,957,668. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $85.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.21.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

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.