Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $11.78 Million Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 148.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 155,373 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 92,944 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $11,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,199,000 after buying an additional 1,528,450 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $194,832,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG opened at $81.44 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.92 and its 200-day moving average is $77.70. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $164.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during 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%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

About Dollar General

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.