Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Position Boosted by Signaturefd LLC

Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 41.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,640 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Dollar General by 18.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457,393 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,346,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,278,000 after buying an additional 62,913 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Dollar General by 98.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 44.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,572,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,394,000 after acquiring an additional 481,881 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Dollar General by 78.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,426,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,904,000 after acquiring an additional 627,844 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.4 %

DG stock opened at $142.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $31.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $222.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $134.80.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

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