BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Stock

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $80.00 to $84.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target indicates a potential upside of 3.38% from the company’s previous close.

DG has been the subject of several other reports. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

Dollar General Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE DG traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.25. 3,502,683 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,272,829. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.63 and its 200-day moving average is $104.26. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $72.12 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.44. 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, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,397,284.90. The trade was a 2.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.