What happened Dollar General (NYSE: DG) shareholders outperformed a booming market last year as the growth stock rose 44%, compared to a 29% spike in the S&P 500 index, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Shares tracked ahead of the market for most of the year, but that gap widened in late August through the end of 2019. Image source: Getty Images. So what Investors cheered improving financial results through the year, with comparable-store sales gains improving to 4% in the fiscal second quarter and then to 4.6% in Q3. That third-quarter report was especially good news for the business, as it included the value retailer's best customer traffic rate in almost five years. Now what CEO Todd Vasos and his team are now projecting comps of nearly 4% for the full fiscal year, which is slightly higher than management's late-August forecast. Improving profitability, meanwhile, is supporting notable earnings growth. Dollar General is spending cash on its dividend and stock buyback channels, but given its robust traffic boost, the chain is directing most of its excess resources toward aggressively expanding its store base, with 1,000 store openings projected for fiscal 2020. 10 stocks we like better than Dollar GeneralWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Dollar General wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source