Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Short Interest Update

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,900,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the December 31st total of 9,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 5.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG traded down $1.07 on Friday, reaching $71.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,127,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,308,651. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.61.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.