Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Upgraded at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $130.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Melius raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.04.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE DG traded up $2.06 on Wednesday, reaching $113.83. The stock had a trading volume of 4,534,325 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,065,162. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $135.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $93.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.03. The company has a market capitalization of $25.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DG. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 1.7% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 7,258 shares of the company's stock worth $638,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 989 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised 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 worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 0.5% during the first quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,983 shares of the company's stock worth $2,548,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.