Van ECK Associates Corp Has $1.84 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,229 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,876 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG opened at $76.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.27 and a 200-day moving average of $83.28. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its 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). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.10%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DG. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% 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.