Dollar General (DG) versus Its Competitors Head to Head Contrast

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) is one of 150 publicly-traded companies in the “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Dollar General to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Dollar General and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dollar General	1	15	13	0	2.41
Dollar General Competitors	2247	8288	10083	459	2.42

Dollar General currently has a consensus price target of $137.96, suggesting a potential upside of 2.51%. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies have a potential upside of 55.19%. Given Dollar General’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Dollar General has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Dollar General and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dollar General	3.90%	18.93%	5.21%
Dollar General Competitors	-26.10%	3.81%	2.91%

Dividends

Dollar General pays an annual dividend of $2.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Dollar General pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 37.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility and Risk

Dollar General has a beta of 0.19, meaning that its stock price is 81% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Dollar General’s rivals have a beta of 0.44, meaning that their average stock price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Dollar General and its rivals revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dollar General	$42.72 billion	$1.51 billion	17.50
Dollar General Competitors	$34.33 billion	$834.66 million	17.69

Dollar General has higher revenue and earnings than its rivals. Dollar General is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

91.8% of Dollar General shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.0% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Dollar General shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 19.7% of shares of all “Consumer Staples Distribution & Retail” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Dollar General rivals beat Dollar General on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation is an American discount retailer that operates neighborhood stores offering everyday essentials at value-oriented prices. Its merchandise includes food and household supplies, cleaning products, health and beauty items, seasonal goods, apparel, and home products, with a mix of national brands and private-label products. The company traces its roots to J.L. Turner & Son, a family-owned business established in 1939. The first store operating under the Dollar General name opened in Springfield, Kentucky, in 1955.