Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Shares Down 6.2% – Should You Sell?

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)’s share price traded down 6.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $75.00 and last traded at $73.72. 1,299,451 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 3,393,403 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank reduced their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $73.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.88.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 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 the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.18%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,087,000 after buying an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,385,000 after buying an additional 316,005 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.