Northcape Capital Pty Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Northcape Capital Pty Ltd lessened its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG – Get Rating) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Dollar General accounts for 0.9% of Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Northcape Capital Pty Ltd’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $6,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Wagner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in Dollar General by 55.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 188 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant sold 1,951 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.93, for a total transaction of $475,907.43. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 38,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,334,957.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DG. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $242.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Friday. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $280.00 to $255.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays began coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $237.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.50.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded down $3.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $208.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,689,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,064,954. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.17. The company has a market capitalization of $46.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $183.25 and a twelve month high of $262.20.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 16th. The company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.24 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 40.63% and a net margin of 6.38%. Dollar General’s revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 11.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. This is a positive change from Dollar General’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 10th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.60%.

Dollar General Company Profile

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Dollar General Corp. engages in the operation of merchandise stores. Its offerings include food, snacks, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, basic apparel, housewares, and seasonal items. It sells brands including Clorox, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, Hanes, Coca-Cola, Mars, Unilever, Nestle, Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and PepsiCo The company was founded by J.