Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 57.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 901 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $51,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 125,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,494,000 after buying an additional 42,628 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 82,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,246,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,876 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % 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.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $78.53 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.88. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The firm has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 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 return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors 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 3.01%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

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.