Dollar General Plans New Store Openings, Forecasts Growth

Dollar General Corp. shares ticked slightly higher in the extended session Wednesday after the discount retailer provided long-term growth forecasts and said it plans to open nearly 2,000 new stores over the next two years. Dollar General shares advanced 0.5% to $84.96 after hours. The company said it plans to open about 900 new stores in 2016, and open about 1,000 new stores in 2017. Long term, the company said it expects net sales to grow by 7% to 10% a year, and earnings per share to grow by 10% to 15%. Analysts surveyed by FactSet, on average, expect 2016 earnings to grow 16.5% from the year-ago period, and sales to grow by 9.8%.