Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Takes Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 17,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,349,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 2,731.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 195,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,800,000 after purchasing an additional 188,308 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,679,000. Finally, Professional Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Dollar General by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 152,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,569,000 after acquiring an additional 40,151 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $93.55 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $147.79. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.95. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.