Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Acquires 5,170 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 24.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,465 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,170 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth $194,832,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $32,932,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 60.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 951,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,454,000 after buying an additional 359,757 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other 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 transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 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. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG opened at $71.49 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $15.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.35. 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue 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 year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

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.