Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Shares Down 6.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) dropped 6.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $75.00 and last traded at $73.72. Approximately 1,299,451 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 3,393,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.58.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results 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). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, 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 transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 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.