Dollar General (NYSE:DG) Sees Large Volume Increase After Dividend Announcement

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) shares saw strong trading volume on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. 3,006,442 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 7% from the previous session’s volume of 3,232,312 shares.The stock last traded at $77.08 and had previously closed at $79.50.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Loop Capital cut their price target on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.32.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.63 and a 200 day moving average of $104.26. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,397,284.90. This trade represents a 2.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Dollar General by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,355,000 after acquiring an additional 31,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.