This reflects higher labor costs due to last year’s wage investments as well as the buyout, integration and operating expenses related to the acquisition of assets from Burris Logistics. Higher freight costs as well as investments in inflationary categories and markdowns in general merchandise inventory hurt merchandise margins. 3 Stocks Hogging the Limelight Here we have highlighted three better-ranked stocks, namely Dollar General DG, Costco COST and Dollar Tree DLTR.