Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Sells 1,163,300 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 69.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 499,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,163,300 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.23% of Dollar General worth $37,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $212,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 9,882.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 5,139 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,491,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $856,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Price Performance

Dollar General stock opened at $81.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $17.97 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $164.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.76.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.18%.

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.