Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 304.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 279,833 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 210,660 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $21,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of DG. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,018,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,385,000 after purchasing an additional 316,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,158,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of DG stock opened at $92.82 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.02. The stock has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $159.52. 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 (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.