Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Decreases Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,402 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,572 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Dollar General worth $8,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 453.4% during the 3rd 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 period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,899,000 after acquiring an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,355,000 after buying an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $72.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.71 and its 200 day moving average is $84.04. 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 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

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.