Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Director Sells $451,620.00 in Stock

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG stock opened at $74.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.43. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $72.12 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after buying an additional 26,813 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased 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 valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $9,587,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

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.