Riverbridge Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 69.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,973 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,312 shares during the period. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% during 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth about $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Dollar General by 2.2% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $71.34 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.41. The company has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. 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 3.31%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. 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. Barclays lowered their price target on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target 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. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong 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.

About Dollar General

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.