Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 2,069 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,988 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,069 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Dollar General by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after purchasing an additional 64,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,385,000 after purchasing an additional 316,005 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $79.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $164.12.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 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 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

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.