Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Increases By 19.6%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,900,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the December 15th total of 9,110,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the 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 directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,832,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after purchasing an additional 765,206 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Dollar General by 319.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,324,000 after buying an additional 704,639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock traded down $0.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.44. 3,380,183 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,174,597. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $91.59. Dollar General has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 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.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. Melius Research started coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Telsey Advisory Group reduced 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. Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.18.

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.