Dollar General Co. (DG) To Go Ex-Dividend on October 8th

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share on Tuesday, October 22nd. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th.

Dollar General has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years. Dollar General has a dividend payout ratio of 37.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Dollar General to earn $6.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.0%.

Dollar General Stock Up 3.0 %

DG opened at $84.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 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 has a one year low of $77.96 and a one year high of $168.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $124.86.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during 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%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.48.

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.