Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Dollar General (NYSE:DG – Get Rating) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $10.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.24 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 38.43% and a net margin of 6.49%. The company’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. Dollar General updated its FY 2023 guidance to $11.11-$11.32 EPS.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:DG traded down $3.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $208.83. The company had a trading volume of 7,689,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,101,594. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.17. Dollar General has a 12-month low of $183.25 and a 12-month high of $262.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Dollar General Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 11th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Dollar General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DG. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Monday, December 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Dollar General from $255.00 to $235.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 24th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a report on Friday. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $230.00 to $220.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Dollar General from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.50.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant sold 1,951 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.93, for a total value of $475,907.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,269 shares in the company, valued at $9,334,957.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Manhattan Co. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 447.4% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 104 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 156.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the first quarter worth about $212,000. 90.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Dollar General

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Dollar General Corp. engages in the operation of merchandise stores. Its offerings include food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares, and seasonal items. It sells brands including Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and PepsiCo The company was founded by J.