Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $74.73 and last traded at $74.81, with a volume of 620006 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Melius Research assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.79.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 278.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after purchasing an additional 47,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP purchased a new position in Dollar General in the second quarter worth approximately $9,587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.