Dollar General (DG) closed the most recent trading day at $147.66, moving -1.78% from the previous trading session. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.41%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.83%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.91%.
Coming into today, shares of the discount retailer had gained 9.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 4.12%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.38%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Dollar General in its upcoming release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.58, down 5.95% from the prior-year quarter. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $10.75 billion, indicating a 4.28% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.49 per share and revenue of $42.56 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9.63% and +4.79%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Dollar General should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% higher. As of now, Dollar General holds a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
In terms of valuation, Dollar General is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 23.18. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 29 for its industry.
Meanwhile, DG's PEG ratio is currently 2.73. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry was having an average PEG ratio of 3.15.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 17, putting it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Dollar General Corporation (DG): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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