Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Has $34.42 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,563 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $34,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 26,165 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Dollar General by 278.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after purchasing an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at $9,587,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.45.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG traded up $2.22 on Monday, reaching $78.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 142,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,186,068. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $73.51 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.99.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.