Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $97.00 to $82.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Dollar General traded as low as $77.66 and last traded at $78.78, with a volume of 1729289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.57.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America lowered Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DG. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in Dollar General by 94.2% during the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 6,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 3,313 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 6.1% in the first quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 1.1% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 45,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,081,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 31.9% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 19,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 4,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 5.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.38. The stock has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.45. 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 (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 3.05%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.65%.

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.