Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Cut to Sell at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Dollar General (NYSE:DG) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $73.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $91.00.

DG has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $109.48.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $87.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General has a one year low of $77.96 and a one year high of $168.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.12.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 34.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,298,812. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,187.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,298,812. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $369,000. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 60,266.7% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.