Dollar General (DG) closed the latest trading day at $72.82, indicating a +1.42% change from the previous session's end. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.39% gain on the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.71%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.2%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the discount retailer had lost 3.2% over the past month. This has lagged the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 8.29% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.7% in that time.

The upcoming earnings release of Dollar General will be of great interest to investors. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.50, reflecting a 18.03% decrease from the same quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $10.26 billion, indicating a 4.11% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Dollar General. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.38% higher. Dollar General is holding a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now.

Looking at its valuation, Dollar General is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 12.01. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.76, which means Dollar General is trading at a discount to the group.

Investors should also note that DG has a PEG ratio of 2.06 right now. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. As the market closed yesterday, the Retail - Discount Stores industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.11.

The Retail - Discount Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 86, this industry ranks in the top 35% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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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