KeyCorp Reiterates Sector Weight Rating for Dollar General (NYSE:DG)

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sector weight" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at KeyCorp in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on DG. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 target price on Dollar General in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.04.

Dollar General Price Performance

Dollar General stock traded up $2.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $113.83. 4,534,325 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,070,761. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $93.85 and a 200 day moving average of $82.03. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $135.46. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This 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 link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 7,258 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 989 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 0.5% in the first quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,983 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,548,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 39.4% in the first quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.