Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,340,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the March 15th total of 12,840,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 4,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William W. Douglas III purchased 701 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.00 per share, with a total value of $52,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,275. This represents a 103.70 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aditya Maheshwari sold 1,238 shares of Dollar Tree stock in a transaction on Monday, April 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.70, for a total transaction of $92,478.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,055.70. This trade represents a 22.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar Tree

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 37.6% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 2,745 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Dollar Tree by 193.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 20,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,416,000 after purchasing an additional 13,263 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 0.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 232,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar Tree in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 145.0% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 3,368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DLTR shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Dollar Tree from $79.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Dollar Tree from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Dollar Tree from $100.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Dollar Tree from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar Tree from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.84.

Dollar Tree Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DLTR traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $79.33. 2,836,246 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,936,013. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.46. The company has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.63, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.87. Dollar Tree has a 52 week low of $60.49 and a 52 week high of $123.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($0.09). Dollar Tree had a negative net margin of 3.34% and a positive return on equity of 16.89%. The firm had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar Tree will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar Tree Company Profile

Dollar Tree, Inc operates retail discount stores. The company operates in two segments, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. The Dollar Tree segment offers merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.25. It provides consumable merchandise, which includes everyday consumables, such as household paper and chemicals, food, candy, health, personal care products, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise comprising toys, durable housewares, gifts, stationery, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, arts and crafts supplies, and other items; and seasonal goods that include Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day merchandise.