Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,042 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 11.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,790,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,244,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,485 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Dollar General by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,217,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,155,141,000 after buying an additional 2,031,593 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Dollar General by 148.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after acquiring an additional 765,206 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 319.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,324,000 after acquiring an additional 704,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 6.5% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 742,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,772,000 after acquiring an additional 45,000 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,397,284.90. This represents a 2.44 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. 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 report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Daiwa America downgraded Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.45.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $75.88 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $73.51 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 36.65%.

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.