Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA reduced its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 114,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,200 shares during the quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $9,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 32.8% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,195,000 after acquiring an additional 6,414 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 27.4% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $856,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $74.93 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $72.12 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $81.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.22. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company’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 posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were purchased 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. The trade was a 1.23 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.