Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,673,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 278.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,071,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,408,514,000 after buying an additional 3,360,413 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 10.5% during the first quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 191,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,932,000 after buying an additional 18,280 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,340,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,194,000 after buying an additional 320,157 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the first quarter valued at approximately $15,896,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DG. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $139.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America downgraded Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG stock opened at $84.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $132.13. The firm has a market cap of $18.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.35%.

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.