Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Increases By 8.5%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,860,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the March 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,071,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,408,514,000 after purchasing an additional 3,360,413 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,676,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,026,000 after purchasing an additional 2,273,119 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,185,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,372,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257,537 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,068,256 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,776,629,000 after purchasing an additional 133,591 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $337,150,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:DG opened at $137.58 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.38. Dollar General has a 52 week low of $101.09 and a 52 week high of $221.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $30.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.20, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

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.