Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Raised to Accumulate at Gordon Haskett

Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) from a reduce rating to an accumulate rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. Melius Research raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.19.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $111.89. 6,036,993 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,063,182. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $135.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.33 and a 200 day moving average of $81.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a PE 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.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Dollar General's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 279.8% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.