Morgan Stanley Cuts Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $80.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on DG. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $71.34 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 9,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 2.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.