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Dollar General: Buy on the Dips?

Dollar General (DG) reported earnings for the fourth quarter earlier in the week. The company, whose colleagues include Dollar Tree (DLTR) and Family Dollar Stores (FDO), saw excellent growth in its bottom line. How should we view the stock?

According to the corporate press release, adjusted profit increased 27% to 65 cents per share. The Associated Press says that expectations were set at 59 cents per share. Furthermore, same-store sales appear healthy: They expanded by 3.8%.

Continue reading Dollar General: Buy on the Dips?

Closing Bell: Bulls Take a Breather (DG, EE, EWJ, NFLX, PRAN, S, T)

A great three day rally went from news and excitement to what was really just a dull quiet day for the market as a whole. Earnings and analysts drove some shares but the news of a downed airplane in Libya and more unrest growing in the Middle East region just failed to make markets move so much.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow Jones 12,018.63 -17.90 (-0.15%)
S&P 500 1,293.77 -4.61 (-0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,683.87 -8.22 (-0.31%)

Top Analyst Upgrades & Downgrades

Continue reading Closing Bell: Bulls Take a Breather (DG, EE, EWJ, NFLX, PRAN, S, T)

Trade the Positive Retail News

Walgreen (WAG), Dollar General (DG) and Express (EXPR) all reported higher quarterly profits Tuesday morning, with Dollar General and Express both beating Wall Street consensus earnings estimates. With news like this, it may be beneficial for an investor to take a closer look at the retail sector.

Granted, Walgreen did not impress Wall Street, and shares fell more than 7%. Express and Dollar General, however, are reaping the benefits with Express trading up over 5% and Dollar General enjoying a 3% upswing. Both companies opened trading up in the markets Tuesday.

Continue reading Trade the Positive Retail News

Analyst Calls: BBT, CI, DG, DHI, HSY, NFLX, RAI, TOL, UNH, WAT, XOM ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Exxon Mobil (XOM) and BB&T (BBT) to outperform from perform at Oppenheimer.
  • D.R. Horton (DHI) upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
  • Meritage Homes (MTH), Old Dominion Freight (ODFL) and Heartland Payment (HPY) to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
  • Toll Brothers (TOL) to overweight from equal weight at Barclays.
  • Hershey (HSY) to buy from neutral at Janney Capital.
  • UnitedHealth (UNH), Cigna (CI) and Allscripts (MDRX) to buy from hold at Deutsche Bank.
  • Nationwide Health (NHP) to outperform from market perform at JMP Securities.
  • Reynolds American (RAI) to buy from neutral at UBS.
  • Adtran (ADTN), PG&E (PCG) and Wisconsin Energy (WEC) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BBT, CI, DG, DHI, HSY, NFLX, RAI, TOL, UNH, WAT, XOM ...

Dollar General Plans to Open 625 New Stores, Hire 6,000 Employees

The country is still mired in a long recession. Many businesses are closing their doors. Others are cutting back, laying off employees and reducing production. But with every crisis there is opportunity. Such is the case for Dollar General (DG). In a time of high unemployment and low wages, consumers are counting every penny. Dollar General stores offer deep discounts, even beating discounters like Walmart (WMT).

In the most recent quarter, Dollar General's income rose by 69%. The company also raised its full-year guidance by 10% to $3.22 billion.

Continue reading Dollar General Plans to Open 625 New Stores, Hire 6,000 Employees

Analyst Calls: AZN, DG, GSK, NBS, NRGY, NVS, RHT, SFD, STX, TYC ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Tyco Electronics (TEL) and Weight Watchers (WTW) to buy from neutral, and Smithfield Foods (SFD) to buy from underperform, at BofA/Merrill.
  • Red Hat (RHT) to overweight from equal weight at Morgan Stanley.
  • Gold Fields (GFI) to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
  • Novartis (NVS) to outperform from neutral and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to neutral from underperform at Credit Suisse.
  • Dollar General (DG) to buy from hold at ThinkEquity.
  • Eagle Rock Energy (EROC) to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: AZN, DG, GSK, NBS, NRGY, NVS, RHT, SFD, STX, TYC ...

Dollar General's Net Earnings Soar, Shares Fall

Dollar General (DG) logoRecessions are a good time for discount retailers. Dollar General (DG) is a retailer of low priced goods, which are in demand during this period of high unemployment. Consumers have less to spend and gravitate to stores like Dollar General.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported that Dollar General's fiscal third-quarter profit rose to $128.1 million or 37 cents a share, up from $75 million or 24 cents a share a year earlier. Sales rose 10% to $3.22 billion and were 4.2% higher on a same-store basis. Compared to prior years, sales were up 13% and 9.2% respectively.

Continue reading Dollar General's Net Earnings Soar, Shares Fall

Week in Preview: A Bit of a Breather (AZO, DG, SFD)

earnings expectationsAfter a week full of mixed economic data taking its toll on the markets, things will settle down somewhat this coming week.

  • Monday: Fed releases October data on consumer credit outstanding.
  • Tuesday: TIPP Economic Optimism Index is due.
  • Wednesday: Labor Dept. offers initial jobless claims numbers for last week, EIA's crude oil inventory last week, October wholesale trade numbers from the Census Bureau.
  • Friday: Trade balance data for October, Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its Import Price Index for November, preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index is due, and the Treasury Dept. releases the federal budget balance in November.

Continue reading Week in Preview: A Bit of a Breather (AZO, DG, SFD)

Cogent Calls and CB Richard Ellis Puts Heating Up

options tradersOption traders appear to be setting up for a bullish move on Cogent Inc. (COGT). Traders plowed into 1,571 new call option contracts -- 3.27 times the average volume -- on the stock on Friday. And we know that traders were eager to get into this trade because 99% of the trades came in on the ask price.

Recently, 3M Company (MMM) announced that it was going to acquire Cogent for $10.50 per share. The stock closed Friday at $11.01, up 19.53% during the past month.

Continue reading Cogent Calls and CB Richard Ellis Puts Heating Up

Dollar General Down on Q2 News

Dollar General Corp. (DG) did well during the second quarter, but the company's shares are nevertheless down this afternoon. With a little over an hour to go before the market closes for the day, the stock is off by 1%, coming in at a quote of $27.06.

The shares have traded in a range between $21.30 and $31.41 over the last twelve months. The one-year chart shows that the equity hit a rough patch after peaking in June. It's a familiar image by now.

Continue reading Dollar General Down on Q2 News

The Week in Preview: Employment, Housing, Manufacturing, Earnings Expectations

earnings expectationsInvestors nervous about the possibly stalled economic recovery -- or worse, the beginning of the latter phase of a double-dip recession -- were not pleased with last week's housing numbers. Things were perhaps ameliorated somewhat by durable goods order numbers and a revised GDP that weren't as bad as expected, but that didn't stop the Dow from dipping below 10,000 later in the week, before fighting its way back above the benchmark to end the week, thanks largely to Fed chair Bernanke's comments on Friday.

Though the end of August is usually quiet, this week lots more economic data are due out, including more housing numbers: The Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June on Tuesday, construction spending numbers for July on Wednesday, and NAR's pending home sales for July on Thursday. There's not expected to be much to get excited about in these numbers.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: Employment, Housing, Manufacturing, Earnings Expectations

Dollar General Up on Q1 Numbers

Dollar General (DG), whose colleagues include Family Dollar Stores (FDO) and Dollar Tree (DLTR), is in the green during afternoon trading. With a little less than three hours to go until the market closes for the day, I see a quote of $29.56, which represents a rise of over 1% in the share price. Volume is above average.

A 1% rise isn't necessarily anything to get too excited about in a normal market, but in a bear market, it can be a badge of honor, especially when it follows an earnings report. You also have to like the fact that Dollar General's chart looks pretty good.

Continue reading Dollar General Up on Q1 Numbers

Analyst Calls: BHI, CREE, CSCO, DG, DIS, EBAY, FDO, HAL, HURN, KBH, SLB ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Wells Fargo upgraded its sector rating on large-cap U.S. banks to market weight from underweight to reflect improving economic data, valuations in the space and reduced concerns of regulatory changes.
  • Soleil upgraded Disney (DIS) to buy from hold, citing better ESPN affiliate fee and cruise ship expectations. The firm upped its target price for shares to $42 from $30.
  • Baird upgraded Huron (HURN) to outperform from neutral, citing the company's better-than-expected retention efforts of MDs in core segments and continued stabilization in its more cyclical segments. The firm raised its price target to $30 from $27.
  • Schlumberger (SLB) was upgraded to strong buy from outperform at Raymond James.
  • Dollar General (DG) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Wells Fargo.
  • UDR Inc (UDR) was upgraded to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital.

Continue reading Analyst Calls: BHI, CREE, CSCO, DG, DIS, EBAY, FDO, HAL, HURN, KBH, SLB ...

The Week in Preview: End-of-Season Earnings from DG, MOS, RIMM ...

Things will be pretty quiet on the earnings front again this week as the quarter winds down. But here's a look at what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting from a few of the stragglers that are scheduled to report results.

In the three months that ended in February, Mosaic Co. (MOS) declared a quarterly dividend and denied that the company was for sale. Analysts expect this potash and phosphate producer to report that fiscal third-quarter earnings surged nearly 80% from the same period of last year to $0.63 per share. Revenue for the period is expected to be 31.6% higher to $1.8 billion. So far, analysts anticipate sequential and year-over-year EPS and revenue growth in the fourth quarter. However, Mosaic's earnings results have fallen short of expectations in three of the past four quarters, by as much as 11 cents per share.

Continue reading The Week in Preview: End-of-Season Earnings from DG, MOS, RIMM ...

Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: AOL, DG, NYT, POT, SLB, SNDK, XOM, YHOO ...

Analyst Upgrades

  • Barclays upgraded Schlumberger (SLB) to overweight from equal weight based on its deep management team, financial strength and increased exploration activity. The firm raised its target to $73 from $64.
  • ThinkEquity upgraded SanDisk (SNDK) to buy from hold based on expectations for a solid 2010 with better NAND pricing trends, leaner channel inventories and lack of new fabs slated in 2010, among other reasons. The firm has a $35 target on the stock.
  • Keefe Bruyette upgraded Pinnacle Financial (PNFP) to outperform from market perform, citing the company's strong management and balance sheet. The firm has a $16.50 price target on the stock.
  • Watson Pharma (WPI) was raised to neutral from underperform at BofA/Merrill.
  • New York Times (NYT) was upgraded to market perform from underperform at Wells Fargo.
  • Tenet Healthcare (THC) was upgraded to outperform from market perform at Leerink.

Continue reading Analyst Upgrades, Downgrades and Initiations: AOL, DG, NYT, POT, SLB, SNDK, XOM, YHOO ...

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Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA-89.2312,801.23
NASDAQ-23.352,903.88
S&P 500-9.311,342.64

Last updated: February 10, 2012: 06:12 PM

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