Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an overweight rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $166.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $128.00. Dollar General traded as high as $136.10 and last traded at $134.2150, with a volume of 55552 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.21.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Dollar General from $139.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.12.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 19,166 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.01, for a total value of $2,530,103.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,700,059.79. The trade was a 30.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Tracey N. Herrmann sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.39, for a total transaction of $637,241.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 26,098 shares in the company, valued at $3,429,016.22. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,599 shares of company stock valued at $4,741,101. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Severin Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $497,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 52.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in Dollar General by 8.0% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,804 shares of the company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Dollar General by 159.1% during the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 103,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,718,000 after buying an additional 63,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $392,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.50.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.33. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 18.59%. The firm had revenue of $10.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.60 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Dollar General has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.500 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.76%.

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.