Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target Cut to $69.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $73.00 to $69.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sell” rating on the stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential downside of 15.72% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on DG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.09.

Dollar General Trading Up 7.4 %

NYSE DG traded up $5.63 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,199,870 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,521,894. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. 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 has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.20.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted 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 net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 5,624.9% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,385,000 after purchasing an additional 316,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 710.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 25,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,143,000 after purchasing an additional 22,217 shares during the period. 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.