South Dakota Investment Council Grows Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,654 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,425 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council owned approximately 0.13% of Dollar General worth $20,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 279.8% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG stock opened at $76.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value 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 trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % 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 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.