Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG – Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 45,811 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 124% compared to the average volume of 20,420 put options.
Dollar General Price Performance
Shares of DG stock traded down $1.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $103.66. The stock had a trading volume of 3,945,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,863,136. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $134.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.37. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $101.98 and a 12 month high of $261.59.
Dollar General (NYSE:DG – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.47 by ($0.34). Dollar General had a return on equity of 36.34% and a net margin of 5.59%. The firm had revenue of $9.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.
Dollar General Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 6th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.18%.
Insider Transactions at Dollar General
In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $106.25 per share, for a total transaction of $212,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 30,966 shares in the company, valued at $3,290,137.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General
A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Dollar General by 6.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 19,570,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,118,721,000 after buying an additional 1,204,969 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Dollar General by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 15,087,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,561,298,000 after buying an additional 5,926,555 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Dollar General by 124.4% in the 2nd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,787,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,831,536,000 after acquiring an additional 5,979,461 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 11.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,765,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,202,000 after acquiring an additional 994,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,744,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,329,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318,412 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.37% of the company’s stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DG. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $130.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $165.00 to $128.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $116.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $185.00 to $146.00 in a report on Friday, September 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.46.
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.