Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock Price

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Barclays from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 40.08% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DG. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research began coverage on Dollar General in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $71.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $70.15 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $76.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.96.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after buying an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,355,000 after purchasing an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.