Cincinnati Insurance Co. Cuts Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Cincinnati Insurance Co. lessened its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 38.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 386,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 238,464 shares during the quarter. Cincinnati Insurance Co.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $29,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on DG. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.26.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $87.68 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $164.12.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.