KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases Shares of 76,569 Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 76,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,805,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Dollar General by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 126.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $82.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $164.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Company Profile

Dollar General Corporation, a discount retailer, provides various merchandise products in the southern, southwestern, midwestern, and eastern United States. It offers consumable products, including paper and cleaning products, such as paper towels, bath tissues, paper dinnerware, trash and storage bags, disinfectants, and laundry products; packaged food comprising cereals, pasta, canned soups, fruits and vegetables, condiments, spices, sugar, and flour; and perishables that include milk, eggs, bread, refrigerated and frozen food, beer, and wine.