J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded DG to "market perform" from "outperform"
J.P. Morgan Securities downgraded Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG) to "market perform" from "outperform" earlier, and lowered its price objective to a Street low of $116 from $132. This bear note came after comments from the discount retailer's CFO Kelly Dilts, who said uncertainty could persist into 2024 as macro headwinds worsen for low to middle income consumers.
Last seen down 2% to trade at $112.78, the security is dangerously close to yesterday's four-year low of $112.16. The 20-day moving average has pressured the security since August. So far in 2023, Dollar General stock is down more than 58%.
Additional downgrades and/or price-target cuts may be in store, which could pressure the equity even lower. Of the 22 analysts in question, seven still rate DG a "buy" or better, while the 12-month consensus target price of $153.96 is now a 36.2% premium to current trading levels.
Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), DG's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.06 stands in the 91st percentile of its annual range. In other words, long puts have been getting picked up at a quicker-than-usual clip.