Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Stock Position Trimmed by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 24.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,676 shares of the company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $2,018,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% during the third 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. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. Bernstein Bank cut their price objective on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. HSBC cut their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $72.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.89 and a 200-day moving average of $84.86.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.