Cerity Partners LLC Buys 1,190 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,982 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $302,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $496,000. Stiles Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $169,000. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 6,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DG shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $145.68 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $101.09 and a 52-week high of $222.99. The stock has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $149.44 and a 200-day moving average of $133.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The firm had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.