Sunbelt Securities Inc. Reduces Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 29.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,034 shares of the company’s stock after selling 845 shares during the quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,185,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,372,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257,537 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 18.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,297,067,000 after buying an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $337,150,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,676,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,026,000 after acquiring an additional 2,273,119 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Dollar General by 98.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,141 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of DG opened at $130.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.45. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $101.09 and a twelve month high of $173.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.91.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.89 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.80%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DG shares. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by 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.