Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $111.00 to $138.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 25.32% from the company's current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on DLTR. UBS Group raised their target price on Dollar Tree from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. Citigroup upgraded Dollar Tree from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Dollar Tree from $80.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays upgraded Dollar Tree from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $138.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $82.00 target price on Dollar Tree and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.42.

Dollar Tree Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ DLTR opened at $110.12 on Monday. Dollar Tree has a 12 month low of $60.49 and a 12 month high of $113.14. The company has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.59.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 4th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.52 billion. Dollar Tree had a positive return on equity of 19.36% and a negative net margin of 12.15%. The company's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Dollar Tree will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Dollar Tree declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, July 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 11.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar Tree

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Dollar Tree by 382.7% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 6,524,870 shares of the company's stock worth $488,974,000 after purchasing an additional 5,173,238 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 784.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,377,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,040,000 after buying an additional 3,882,324 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 2,489.9% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,621,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,452,000 after buying an additional 2,520,237 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 69.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,848,196 shares of the company's stock valued at $439,025,000 after buying an additional 2,400,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar Tree in the 4th quarter valued at $171,149,000. 97.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Dollar Tree

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.

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