Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 8.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DG. Capital International Investors increased its position in Dollar General by 11.3% during 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 shares of Dollar General by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,155,141,000 after buying an additional 2,031,593 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 1st quarter worth approximately $301,738,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 148.6% during the 2nd 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 period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Barclays decreased their price target on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.84.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $1.02 on Friday, reaching $80.38. 2,869,727 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,135,932. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $77.96 and a 1-year high of $168.07. 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 (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.35%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

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

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.