Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $154.00 to $102.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Dollar General traded as low as $81.90 and last traded at $81.90, with a volume of 99261 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.79.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Argus lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group downgraded shares of Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.43.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

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.