Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Given Sector Weight Rating at KeyCorp

KeyCorp reissued their sector weight rating on shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG) in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Dollar General from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded Dollar General from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.19.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $111.89 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.03. The company has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $135.57. 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 (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Dollar General by 63.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $382,000. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its holdings in Dollar General by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 11,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 33,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $868,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.