Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective trimmed by Jefferies Financial Group from $110.00 to $90.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.6 %

DG opened at $77.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. Dollar General has a twelve month low of $73.51 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 36.65%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Dollar General

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.