Channing Global Advisors LLC Purchases 7,975 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Channing Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,405 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,975 shares during the period. Dollar General comprises 2.5% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,355,000 after purchasing an additional 31,200 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $74.15 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’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 transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 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.