Dollar General (NYSE:DG) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $2.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.63, MarketWatch Earnings reports. Dollar General had a return on equity of 37.64% and a net margin of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis.
DG opened at $204.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $211.09 and a 200 day moving average of $205.68. The stock has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.52. Dollar General has a 52-week low of $173.50 and a 52-week high of $225.25.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 6th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from Dollar General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 15.82%.
Several research firms have recently commented on DG. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Dollar General from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Dollar General from $224.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 24th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $250.00 to $220.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Dollar General from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Dollar General from $245.00 to $225.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.68.
Dollar General declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 18th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In other Dollar General news, CFO John W. Garratt sold 26,127 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.35, for a total transaction of $5,208,417.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,393,492.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.
About Dollar General
Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, Midwestern, and eastern United States. The company offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, canned soups and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.
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