Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 276,654 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,425 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $20,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,385,000 after acquiring an additional 316,005 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on DG shares. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.67. The stock has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.