Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) by 30.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 59,149 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Dollar General worth $11,624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in Dollar General by 323.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,776 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Dollar General by 398.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,200 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,229,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,191,000 after purchasing an additional 839,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,380,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,310,000 after purchasing an additional 821,608 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $222,497.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,563 shares in the company, valued at $5,261,619. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total transaction of $718,223.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,646,027.76. This represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7%

DG stock opened at $110.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.03. Dollar General Corporation has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $126.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.31.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 2.81%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Dollar General Corporation 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on DG shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius Research raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.04.

Dollar General 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.