River Road Asset Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Dollar General by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,297,067,000 after buying an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 11.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,765,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,202,000 after purchasing an additional 994,813 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,744,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,412 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Dollar General by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,346,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,278,000 after purchasing an additional 62,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $564,881,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.8 %

DG opened at $145.68 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.86. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $101.09 and a 52 week high of $222.99. The company has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The business had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DG shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Dollar General from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.08.

Dollar General 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.