Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Quilter Plc

Quilter Plc decreased its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,757 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,274 shares during the quarter. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,832,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,932,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 951,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,454,000 after purchasing an additional 359,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $72.51 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.86. 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 Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. HSBC cut their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

About Dollar General

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.