Dollar General (DG) ended the recent trading session at $87.13, demonstrating a +1.29% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 3.46% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 2.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 4.31%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the discount retailer had gained 14.92% over the past month. This has outpaced the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 5.53% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.27% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of Dollar General will be of great interest to investors. On that day, Dollar General is projected to report earnings of $1.46 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 11.52%. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $10.25 billion, reflecting a 3.41% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.54 per share and revenue of $42.09 billion, which would represent changes of -6.42% and +3.64%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Dollar General. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the company's business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. 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, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 6.16% downward. Dollar General currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Dollar General has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.83 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 19.81, so one might conclude that Dollar General is trading at a discount comparatively.

It is also worth noting that DG currently has a PEG ratio of 2.48. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.47.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 162, which puts it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.

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Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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