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Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Deutsche Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. The firm currently has a $71.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $58.00.

The analysts wrote, “Our call is based on two key points, including: (1) our belief that the fear around FDO’s future margin degradation(particularly on the GPM line) has peaked, and should be reflected is in the majority of Street forecasts at this point, and the worst should be in the rear view mirror post upcoming 2Q13 results in Mid-April; and (2) sales expectations, at times irrational during the previous twelve months – based on the potential of various initiatives, appear more “realistic” for the second half of this year (we are modeling SSS +4.3%).”

FDO has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Family Dollar Stores in a research note to investors on Friday, January 25th. They now have a $70.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Zacks downgraded shares of Family Dollar Stores from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, January 21st. They now have a $53.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at RBC Capital downgraded shares of Family Dollar Stores from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note to investors on Wednesday, January 9th. They now have a $63.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $67.00.

Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Family Dollar Stores has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.69.

Shares of Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) traded up 2.52% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $61.36. Family Dollar Stores has a 52 week low of $57.90 and a 52 week high of $74.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $59.3. The company has a market cap of $7.106 billion and a P/E ratio of 16.65.

Family Dollar Stores (NYSE: FDO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 3rd. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Family Dollar Stores’s revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Family Dollar Stores has set its Q2 guidance at $1.18-1.28 EPS and its FY13 guidance at $3.95-4.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Family Dollar Stores will post $3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This is an increase from Family Dollar Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21.

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. operates a chain of more than 7,400 general merchandise retail discount stores in 45 states, providing consumers with a selection of merchandise in neighborhood stores.

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