Dollar General (DG) ended the recent trading session at $93.66, demonstrating a +1.57% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.77%. On the other hand, the Dow registered a loss of 0.95%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.87%.
Shares of the discount retailer have appreciated by 0.21% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 9.54% and the S&P 500's gain of 11.54%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Dollar General in its forthcoming earnings report. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $1.46, marking a 11.52% fall compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $10.25 billion, indicating a 3.43% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $5.55 per share and a revenue of $42.1 billion, indicating changes of -6.25% and +3.66%, respectively, from the former year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Dollar General. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.22% upward. As of now, Dollar General holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, Dollar General is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 16.6. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.08, so one might conclude that Dollar General is trading at a discount comparatively.
Investors should also note that DG has a PEG ratio of 2.7 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Retail - Discount Stores industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.7 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 160, this industry ranks in the bottom 36% of all industries, numbering over 250.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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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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