California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 1,031,986 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 76.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,320 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,031,986 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $43,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 78.0% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DG. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of DG opened at $142.07 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $101.09 and a 12-month high of $222.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $150.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.46.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 31.22%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.