JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $82.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price target trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $97.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on DG. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Argus reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.05.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.3 %

DG stock traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.81. The company had a trading volume of 621,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,165,245. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $76.76 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The company has a market cap of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.68 and a 200 day moving average of $113.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the first quarter worth $40,000. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 117.7% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the first quarter valued at $45,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.