Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by Pzena Investment Management LLC

Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Dollar General comprises 2.8% of Pzena Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Pzena Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $865,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 117.7% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This represents a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DG shares. Telsey Advisory Group cut shares of Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $168.00 to $103.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Dollar General stock traded down $3.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $72.82. 2,740,128 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,191,414. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $72.49 and a one year high of $168.07. The company has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $81.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 36.65%.

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.