Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) Receives $107.04 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $108.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total value of $718,223.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,646,027.76. The trade was a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $222,497.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,261,619. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 31,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,358,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $370,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 57,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,333,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 69,975 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,306,000 after purchasing an additional 4,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $2,856,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $109.12. 2,186,186 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,128,985. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock's 50-day moving average is $109.00 and its 200-day moving average is $90.72. The firm has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.31. Dollar General has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $126.98.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

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.