Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. trimmed its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 38.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,580 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $4,339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after purchasing an additional 26,813 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 26,165 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Dollar General by 278.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG stock opened at $74.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $81.16 and a 200 day moving average of $108.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.45. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $72.12 and a 1 year high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors 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 3.15%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 36.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DG. Citigroup cut shares of Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. This trade represents a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 approximately $762,819.75. The trade was a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by 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.