Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $97.17, but opened at $106.96. Dollar General shares last traded at $109.02, with a volume of 5,111,772 shares changing hands.

The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $93.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $108.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 4.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,433,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,324,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,917 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.5% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,770,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,206 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,425,000 after acquiring an additional 118,204 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $399,433,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 3.9% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,197,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $369,081,000 after acquiring an additional 155,966 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $93.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.82. The company has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

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.