Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 66,000 Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 66,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,004,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 104.0% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 7,189 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $246,000. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 63.4% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,407,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,732,000 after buying an additional 546,193 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 27,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,071,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $339,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 5.8%

Shares of DG stock opened at $92.82 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The stock has a market cap of $20.42 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.51 and its 200-day moving average is $79.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DG. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Melius Research raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Dollar General from $76.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

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.