Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Sells 503,323 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD lessened its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 12.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,569,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 503,323 shares during the period. Dollar General makes up approximately 3.5% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned 1.62% of Dollar General worth $471,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 286.4% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,637,000 after acquiring an additional 41,635 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $333,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 39,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 3,099 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $86.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.05.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.35%.

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.