Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.57.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on DG. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James reduced their price target on Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Two investment 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. The trade was 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 link. In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,313 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 1,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 1.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 3.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew 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 valued at $3,086,000 after purchasing an additional 4,780 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 5.1 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $82.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $17.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS 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 company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.