Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Capital World Investors

Capital World Investors cut its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,684,704 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,373,220 shares during the period. Capital World Investors’ holdings in Dollar General were worth $355,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,036,000 after acquiring an additional 160,853 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,425,000 after purchasing an additional 118,204 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $399,433,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 8,426.1% in the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994,070 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $93.15 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $147.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.43.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Melius upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.75.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by 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.