Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty-four analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $153.08.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Dollar General by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 689 shares of the company's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 12.3% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 785 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 754 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 14.8% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 700 shares of the company's stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Dollar General by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,224 shares of the company's stock worth $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.4 %

DG stock traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $142.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,378,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,314,912. The company has a 50 day moving average of $150.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.46. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $222.99. The company has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

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.