Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 343 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 8.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,527 shares of the company’s stock after selling 343 shares during the period. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Dollar General by 11.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,790,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Dollar General by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,155,141,000 after buying an additional 2,031,593 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 1st quarter valued at about $301,738,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after buying an additional 765,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 319.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,324,000 after acquiring an additional 704,639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Argus cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.84.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG traded down $1.02 on Friday, reaching $80.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,869,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,135,932. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $89.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.40. The company has a market cap of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $77.96 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 34.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.