We recently published a list of 10 Best Falling Stocks To Buy According to Hedge Funds. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) stands against other best falling stocks to buy according to hedge funds.

Are The S&P 500 Gains Coming Towards An End?

Analysts at Goldman Sachs on October 21st released a note forecasting that the S&P 500 average annual return of 13% for the past 10 years might come down to just 3% for the next decade. The estimates by Goldman Sachs are far below Wall Street’s estimates as analysts on Wall Street expect the index performance to range from 4.4% to 7.4%, with an average of 6%.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs based their forecast on the concern that market concentration within the S&P 500 has been at a record high in its 100-year history. They mentioned that the top 10 largest stocks of the index currently account for more than 36% of the overall index. These top 10 constituents of the index have increased in size due to exceptional earnings growth over the past 2 years. The Magnificent Seven alone have at least doubled their earnings year-over-year during the first quarter of fiscal 2024.

However, analysts at the firm believe that historical evidence shows it is extremely challenging for companies to sustain high levels of sales growth and profit margins for more than a decade. They also noted that the sales growth of the Magnificent Seven has already started to fall from the accelerated pace of their growth during the past 2 years.

On the bright side, analysts pointed out that growth is expected to pick up for the remaining stocks on the index. They expect double-digit earnings growth for these remaining 493 stocks over the next 5 quarters.

Read Also: 10 Best Depressed Stocks To Buy Heading into 2025 and 8 Best Small-Cap Growth Stocks to Buy According to Analysts.

Sylvia Jablonski, Defiance ETFs CEO and CIO joined CNBC on October 22 for an interview to talk about the earnings season progress and also shared her point of view regarding the recent note from Goldman Sachs. She noted that we have seen around 14% of the S&P 500 that have reported their earnings and, out of those, 79% beat expectations. She thinks this is a solid start to the earnings season. Jablonski also mentioned that the bar for some of the companies has also come down, for instance in July analysts were talking about 6% to 7% year-over-year growth, and now we are looking at around 5% growth and companies have been achieving it for the most part.

While talking about Goldman Sachs’s recent note, she mentioned that the shrink in annual return by the index depends on a few factors. While the valuations are high, the earnings are strong and profits are also growing, thereby the high valuations have started to feel justified. However, it only remains justified until the valuations become lofty again. Jablonski pointed out that while the Magnificent Seven stocks have been the top performers of the last decade, we are going to see a broadening of the market where the performance would come from the remaining stocks in the index. She thinks that this transition of growth from the top constituents of the index to smaller stocks might affect the annual returns. However, AI is going to drive the index for the next 5 to 10 years. Jablonski mentioned utility facilities and energy sector companies having grown in triple digits due to artificial intelligence.

Lastly, Jablonski clarified that she is not bearing on tech or semiconductors but the leaders in the S&P 500 are expected to change with Magnificent Seven slowing down in terms of the stellar growth they have posted in the past.

Our Methodology

To curate the list of the 10 best falling stocks to buy according to hedge funds, we used the Finviz stock screener and Yahoo Finance. We defined falling stocks as those trading within 0% to 3% of their 52-week lows. Using the Finviz stock screener, we got an aggregated list of stocks that fit our criteria. Next, we ranked these stocks based on the number of hedge funds holding each stock during Q2 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database. All indicators were recorded on October 21st, 2024. Please note that the list is ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds.

Why do we care about what hedge funds do? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

52 Week Range: $77.96 – $168.07

Current Share Price: $80.41

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42 

Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) is a discount retailer that sells a wide range of products at lower prices. They deal in retail selling of consumable products, seasonal items, home products, apparel, and much more. They offer products of well-known brands at affordable prices across the United States.

The company reported its second-quarter results for fiscal 2024 on August 29, indicating a mixed performance with some growth and market challenges. While Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) reported net income growth of 4.2% year-over-year to $10.2 billion during the quarter however, it fell short of analysts’ expectations by $160.52 million.

Management noted that its core customer base originates from households with earnings less than $35,000 annually and the recent inflationary months have left its customer base financially strained. Regardless of the challenge, the company was able to grow its same-store sales by 0.5% during the quarter, which was driven by a 1% growth in consumer traffic and offset by a 0.5% decline in average transaction amount.

As a result of a softer market, the company has revised its guidance for Fiscal year 2024. It now expects net sales growth in the range of 4.7% to 5.3%, downgraded from the previous expectation of 6% to 6.7%.

The stock was held by 42 hedge funds in Q2 2024, as per Insider Monkey’s database, and is one of the best-falling stocks to buy according to hedge funds.

Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“Consumer Staples. The convenience store operator Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) was our worst performer during the quarter. The retailer, with more than 19,000 stores, 80% of which are in rural towns with populations of less than 20,000, recently slashed its 2024 earnings guidance, sparking a late-summer sell-off.

Same-store comparable sales and margin guidance were cut meaningfully, implying a significant slowdown in the second half of the year. While some of the troubles may be due to the financial challenges of its core customers, with average incomes of just $35,000, Dollar General is also losing market share because of Walmart’s initiative to reduce entry-level pricing. Management acknowledged a need to invest in promotions to stimulate demand, but they refute concerns that DG needs to invest more in store-level labor.

We exited the position and harvested the tax losses, but we continue to monitor the company’s fundamentals. We’re looking for comparable sales to stabilize driven by promotional activity, a boost in labor investments, and management to downsize store expansion plans to improve free cash flow generation and accelerate deleveraging efforts.”

Overall, DG ranks 3rd on our list of best falling stocks to buy according to hedge funds. While we acknowledge the potential of DG to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a promising AI stock that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 8 Best Wide Moat Stocks to Buy Now and 30 Most Important AI Stocks According to BlackRock.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.