Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Short Interest Up 7.7% in October

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,550,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the October 15th total of 6,080,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 4.3% in the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG opened at $76.42 on Tuesday. Dollar General has a 52-week low of $73.51 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.57. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Daiwa America downgraded Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

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.