Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Position Increased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV increased its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 852.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 184,788 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,379 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $14,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,993 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Dollar General by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,563,000 after acquiring an additional 8,317 shares in the last quarter. Banyan Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $5,164,000. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 125.0% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 26,617 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after acquiring an additional 14,785 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DG. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC lowered their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General 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 value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DG opened at $76.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $168.07. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $73.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.28.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. 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 $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Dollar General 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.