Man Group plc Purchases 546,193 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Man Group plc grew its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 63.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,407,706 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 546,193 shares during the period. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.64% of Dollar General worth $106,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Melius Research raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were 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 owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $86.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.72. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company’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 firm posted $1.83 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

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.