Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Trading Up 6.5% on Earnings Beat

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) rose 6.5% during trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $133.75 and last traded at $133.3770. Approximately 6,387,615 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 77% from the average daily volume of 3,600,476 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.29.

The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $10.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.60 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 18.59%. Dollar General’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Dollar General has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.500 EPS.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Evercore ISI set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $117.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $122.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Dollar General in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $139.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $124.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Peoples Financial Services CORP. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $35,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.44. The company has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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.