Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 45.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 162,395 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,450 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $12,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,007,000 after acquiring an additional 5,170 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $502,000. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,158,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 28,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 7,035 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.5 %

DG stock opened at $71.08 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DG. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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.