Moody National Bank Trust Division Buys 424 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,187 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DG. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth $46,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 37.7% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 792 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DG. HSBC dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bernstein Bank cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.18.

Dollar General Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $69.45 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.61. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $69.33 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.88%.

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.