It's been a tough year for Dollar General (NYSE: DG) shareholders. Despite the rebound from October's multi-year low the retailer's stock still trades down 52% from last November's high.

Wednesday's advance does a great deal to cement the current recovery effort in place, however. Although the intraday gain has since pared back a bit from its peak of 5.6%, the two key underpinnings of the move suggest Dollar General shares could keep rallying.

At least some of the credit for Wednesday's market-beating gain from Dollar General belongs to rival retailer (NYSE: TGT). Although its sales are still declining, Target's third-quarter top line of $25.4 billion beat estimates of $25.3 billion. Per-share earnings of $2.10 were well up from the year-ago bottom line of $1.54, easily topping estimates of $1.47. These Q3 figures sparked a wave of bullish interest in most retail stocks.

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Source Fool.com