Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp lessened its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 876,819 shares of the company’s stock after selling 74,510 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.40% of Dollar General worth $66,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,355,000 after acquiring an additional 31,200 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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. Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 5.6 %

NYSE:DG opened at $74.15 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.35 and its 200-day moving average is $81.82. The firm has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Dollar General 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.