Heritage Wealth Management Inc. Sells 2,770 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,770 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,355,000 after purchasing an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG opened at $74.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.31 and a 200-day moving average of $81.22. The company has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.