Hi, Shrewd!        Login  
Shrewd'm.com 
A merry & shrewd investing community
Best Of DGBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd
Search
Shrewd'm.com Merry shrewd investors
Search
Best Of DGBest OfAll BoardsThe Shrewd’m WeeklyLearn to InvestHow to Become Shrewd


The week's question
In December 2024, in the thread "Re: BRK: Why Not XOM?", BreckHutHigh asked the members: "What about the long road trips with kids?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
Answer this questionContinue to Shrewd'mThis note won't appear again
Stocks A to Z / Stocks D / Dollar General (DG)
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (2) |
Author: DTB   😊 😞
Number: of 285 
Subject: Re: Barron’s on DG
Date: 03/07/25 4:15 PM
Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
No. of Recommendations: 5
I couldn't read the article, as it was behind a paywall, and I am certainly not going to pay to read Barron's. If it weren't already free, I might pay NOT to read Barron's. But in this case, I think they may have it right: the current price is too pessimistic.

Bloomstran makes a very strong case for Dollar General, and for Dollar Tree for that matter, here, starting on p.15, and going on for 8 pages: static.fmgsuite.com: PDF document

In a nutshell, he recounts the history of the company and its missteps in the last 4-5 years. He thinks their net margins should be able to recover part way from today's 3.1% to the pandemic high of 6%. Not all the way, with higher labour costs and the shift to lower-margin consumbales, but he guesses the may be able to hit 4.5% once they clean up the mess from the bad decisions his successor made (debt from high priced repurchases, self-checkout, neglecting the stores, etc.) That would be enough to give the shares a 29% annual return over the next 5 years, starting at a $73 price, if his assumptions are correct, including a terminal multiple of 20. His bear case is for margins at only 3.5%, barely up from today, and a terminal multiple of 15, and that would still be enough for annual share appreciation of 16%. Sounds like a margin of safety.

Dollar Tree is Bloomstran's #3 or #4 position (both it and Dollar General are at about 10% of his portfolio's assets), so it's a high conviction bet. I am still not sure enough to make a high conviction bet, but I did buy a few shares on Monday (at $73.95) after reading the first half of Bloomstran's 168 page letter. The whole thing is interesting, but the 8 pages on DG are definitely worthwhile for anyone like me sitting on the fence between wondering whether it's ripe for a rebound vs a classic value trap of a business that is spiralling into insignificance.

Post New | Post Reply | Report Post | Recommend It!
Print the post
Members reply directly to DTB here — and replies get answered. Reading is free; so is joining the conversation. Join Shrewd'm »
This community has written 284 posts about Dollar General. The article-length ones it recommended most:
DG earnings · 30 recs · 2024
Past as Prologue? · 27 recs · 2023
dg, the new value line, · 9 recs · 2024
TEMU · 9 recs · 2023
DG: Theft · 7 recs · 2024
Unthreaded | Threaded | Whole Thread (2) |


Announcements
Dollar General FAQ
Contact Shrewd'm
Contact the developer of these message boards.

Best Of DG | Best Of | Favourites & Replies | All Boards | Followed Shrewds | Open Questions | Moving a community