Morgan Stanley Lowers Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Price Target to $80.00

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) had its price objective cut by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.76% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on DG. Bernstein Bank cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.27.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG traded up $3.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,970,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,804,958. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth $46,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 37.7% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.