National Bank of Canada FI Sells 132,287 Shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR)

Key Points

• National Bank of Canada FI has reduced its holdings in Dollar Tree by 39.6%, selling 132,287 shares to end up with 202,071 shares, worth $15.17 million.
• Dollar Tree announced a $2.5 billion stock buyback, which indicates the company's belief that its shares are undervalued.
• Analysts have varied target price upgrades for Dollar Tree, with JPMorgan's increase from $111 to $138 reflecting a current consensus target price of $97.74.

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR - Free Report) by 39.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,071 shares of the company's stock after selling 132,287 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.09% of Dollar Tree worth $15,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Dollar Tree by 34,600.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 347 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Dollar Tree in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar Tree in the first quarter worth about $48,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar Tree in the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Dollar Tree by 121.4% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 974 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.40% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Richard L. Mcneely sold 21,026 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.62, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DLTR has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Dollar Tree from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Dollar Tree in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. 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. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Dollar Tree in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Dollar Tree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $99.89.

Dollar Tree Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:DLTR traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $115.40. 3,331,041 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,122,440. Dollar Tree, Inc. has a twelve month low of $60.49 and a twelve month high of $118.06. 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 50 day moving average of $105.96 and a 200 day moving average of $86.75. The stock has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of -8.33, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.88.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 positive return on equity of 19.36% and a negative net margin of 12.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. The business's revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Dollar Tree, Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar Tree announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, July 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 11.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.