Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $110.08 and last traded at $109.40, with a volume of 1320543 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $108.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DLTR. Cfra Research raised shares of Dollar Tree to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Dollar Tree from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Dollar Tree from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $105.00 price target on shares of Dollar Tree and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Dollar Tree in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar Tree currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Dollar Tree Trading Up 1.8%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $96.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.86.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.05. Dollar Tree had a negative net margin of 12.15% and a positive return on equity of 19.36%. The company had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Dollar Tree, Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar Tree announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 9th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 11.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Richard L. Mcneely sold 21,026 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.62, for a total transaction of $1,989,480.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 50,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,770,645.78. This represents a 29.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar Tree

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 382.7% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 6,524,870 shares of the company's stock worth $488,974,000 after buying an additional 5,173,238 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 784.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,377,366 shares of the company's stock worth $328,040,000 after buying an additional 3,882,324 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 2,489.9% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,621,456 shares of the company's stock worth $196,452,000 after buying an additional 2,520,237 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 69.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,848,196 shares of the company's stock worth $439,025,000 after buying an additional 2,400,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar Tree in the fourth quarter worth $171,149,000. 97.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar Tree Company Profile

Dollar Tree, Inc operates retail discount stores. The company operates in two segments, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. The Dollar Tree segment offers merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.25. It provides consumable merchandise, which includes everyday consumables, such as household paper and chemicals, food, candy, health, personal care products, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise comprising toys, durable housewares, gifts, stationery, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, arts and crafts supplies, and other items; and seasonal goods that include Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day merchandise.