Great Lakes Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 27.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 49,563 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,776 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $6,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $82.58 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $134.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $77.96 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

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). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

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.