Citigroup Cuts Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $69.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price target trimmed by Citigroup from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sell rating on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.09.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $81.87 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.33 and its 200 day moving average is $79.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the sale, 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. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by 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.