Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $72.57 on Tuesday. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The stock 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 business’s fifty 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 (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DG. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General 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.