Sage Investment Counsel LLC Invests $718,000 in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 9,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000. Dollar General comprises 0.9% of Sage Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Bank KS grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $74.25 on Friday. The firm 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.47. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays cut their price target on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

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.