Retirement Systems of Alabama Trims Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,753 shares of the company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $4,038,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General by 17.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after buying an additional 10,333 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 3,504 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 21.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 9,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.27.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG stock opened at $73.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $78.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $72.12 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

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.