Dollar General Stock Rises After Earnings Beat

Dollar General (DG) shares edged 0.8% higher in early trading Thursday after the release of fourth-quarter results that beat analyst estimates.

The discount retailer posted $401.8 million in net income for the fourth quarter, or earnings per share (EPS) of $1.83, both above analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Dollar General reported increases in traffic and same-store sales compared to the fourth quarter of the 2022 fiscal year, and also announced a quarterly dividend of 59 cents a share. The dividend will be paid by April 23 to shareholders of record on April 9.

No shares of its own stock were repurchased in the 2023 fiscal year, meaning Dollar General still has $1.4 billion in its buyback program, although the retailer said in its 2024 guidance that it does not currently plan to do so.

For the 2024 fiscal year, Dollar General currently projects a 6% to 6.7% increase in net sales, which at the high end would be triple the 2.2% growth it saw in 2023. It also projected a full-year EPS range of $6.80 to $7.55 after posting 2023 EPS of $7.55.

The chain pointed to the fact that 2022’s fiscal year had an extra week of sales, as well as higher interest expenses in fiscal 2023, as reasons why income and EPS decreased year-over-year. Dollar General executives also cited high levels of inflation and heightened retail theft as contributing factors.

Dollar General reiterated plans to open about 800 new stores over the next year, along with remodeling about 1,500 existing stores.

In October, Dollar General announced the return of CEO Todd Vasos less than a year after he retired following a seven-year run as the company’s chief executive.

Dollar General shares were up 0.8% at $159.57 as of 10 a.m. ET Thursday. They are up more than 13% for 2024 so far, although the stock is down about 26% in the last 12 months.

On Wednesday, shares of its dollar-store rival Dollar Tree (DLTR) had plunged after reporting disappointing fourth-quarter earnings.