Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 5,771 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,085 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,771 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $3,846,000. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 542.0% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 107,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,165,000 after buying an additional 90,915 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,427,000 after buying an additional 10,517 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 428,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,480,000 after buying an additional 92,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,592,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,762,000 after buying an additional 157,789 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DG. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.04.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $73.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.23. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

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.