Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Dollar Tree, Inc. (NASDAQ:DLTR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,050,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the October 15th total of 11,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DLTR. Redburn Atlantic raised Dollar Tree to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Dollar Tree from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Dollar Tree in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $76.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Dollar Tree from $150.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Dollar Tree from $140.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.95.

Dollar Tree Stock Down 2.5 %

DLTR stock traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $64.88. 2,088,815 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,394,199. The company has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a PE ratio of -13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Dollar Tree has a twelve month low of $60.49 and a twelve month high of $151.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.62.

Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.37). The company had revenue of $7.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.49 billion. Dollar Tree had a positive return on equity of 15.77% and a negative net margin of 3.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Dollar Tree will post 5.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel J. Heinrich purchased 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $68.27 per share, with a total value of $150,194.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 9,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,616.21. This trade represents a 28.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar Tree

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DLTR. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 659,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,393,000 after acquiring an additional 192,754 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar Tree by 374.4% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Dollar Tree by 95.9% during the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,525,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,264,000 after purchasing an additional 746,913 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar Tree in the second quarter valued at approximately $779,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in Dollar Tree by 80.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 310,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,805,000 after purchasing an additional 138,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.40% of the company’s stock.

About Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree, Inc operates retail discount stores. The company operates in two segments, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar. The Dollar Tree segment offers merchandise at the fixed price of $ 1.25. It provides consumable merchandise, which includes everyday consumables, such as household paper and chemicals, food, candy, health, personal care products, and frozen and refrigerated food; variety merchandise comprising toys, durable housewares, gifts, stationery, party goods, greeting cards, softlines, arts and crafts supplies, and other items; and seasonal goods that include Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Valentine's Day merchandise.