Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Buys 55,280 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 319,787 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,280 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $24,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,018,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 26,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $70.78 on Thursday. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.55. The firm has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.88%.

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.