Banque Pictet & Cie SA Grows Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,486 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,296 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $8,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.3 %

DG traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $123.60. 1,557,023 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,398,880. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.02. The firm has a market cap of $27.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.89 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 22.80% and a net margin of 3.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Dollar General from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Dollar General from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Dollar General from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Friday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.32.

About Dollar General

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.