Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $79.00 to $85.00. The stock had previously closed at $69.21, but opened at $70.76. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the stock. Dollar Tree shares last traded at $73.12, with a volume of 2,002,063 shares trading hands.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on DLTR. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar Tree from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Dollar Tree from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Dollar Tree from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Dollar Tree from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Dollar Tree from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.68.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar Tree

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DLTR. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Dollar Tree by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 350 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Dollar Tree by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 907 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 91.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 6,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 97.40% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar Tree Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.18.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.23 billion. Dollar Tree had a negative net margin of 3.34% and a positive return on equity of 16.89%. The company’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.55 EPS. Analysts forecast that Dollar Tree, Inc. will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar Tree Company Profile

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.