SG Americas Securities LLC Reduces Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

SG Americas Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 62.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,321 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,334 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DG. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 117.7% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,997 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 11,893 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 319,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,246,000 after acquiring an additional 55,280 shares in the last quarter. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,114,000. Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Dollar General by 183.3% in the fourth quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 286,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,245 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $72.59 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.93. The stock has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 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.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its 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). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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 other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was 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 trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.