Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG) shares drooped Thursday morning after the company trumpeted third-quarter sales growth. The company said Q3 sales advanced 3.9%, year-on-year, to $8.52 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $8.49 billion. EPS of $2.08 beat the analyst consensus of $2.01.
Same-store sales decreased 0.6% versus last year. Same-store sales increased 11.6% on a two-year stack basis.
Experts opine the net sales increase was primarily driven by positive sales contributions from new stores, partially offset by a slight decline in same-store sales and the impact of store closures.
The gross profit margin for the quarter decreased 57 basis points Y/Y to 30.8%. The operating margin was 7.8%, and operating income for the quarter fell 13.9% to $665.6 million.
The company held $488.7 million in cash and equivalents as of October 29, 2021. Net cash provided by operating activities for the nine months totaled $2.2 billion.
Wednesday, the company’s board increased the authorization under the share repurchase program by $2.0 billion. The total remaining authorization for future repurchases was $619 million at Q3 end.
Tuesday, the company’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share on its common stock, payable on or before January 18, 2022, to shareholders of record on January 4, 2022.
Dollar General plans to accelerate the pace of new store openings, targeting a total of approximately 1,000 pOpshelf locations by fiscal year-end 2025.
DG shares are trading lower by $7.19, or 3.2% at $215.60 Thursday.
