Principal Securities Inc. Decreases Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Principal Securities Inc. decreased its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 75.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,051 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $50,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after buying an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after acquiring an additional 182,300 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Dollar General by 2.2% during the third 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 period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DG. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $74.13 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $73.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $81.77.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 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, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

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.