Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Sets New 52-Week Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $70.10 and last traded at $70.31, with a volume of 1141698 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $71.59.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DG. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.88 and a 200-day moving average of $92.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,925,000 after acquiring an additional 9,757 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 1,500.9% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,986,000. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 34.7% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 126,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,734,000 after purchasing an additional 32,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 11.7% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.