Providence First Trust Co Acquires Shares of 433 Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Bank KS lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $74.25 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.22.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.