Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Short Interest Update

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,900,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the December 15th total of 9,110,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DG. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.18.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DG traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.44. 3,380,183 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,174,597. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.59. 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 company has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 75.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 139,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,611,000 after purchasing an additional 60,189 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 11,893 shares during the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 319,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,246,000 after buying an additional 55,280 shares during the last quarter. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,114,000. Finally, Monarch Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 183.3% during the 4th quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,330 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.