Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 355,937 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,146 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $48,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Dollar General by 18.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,297,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,346,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,278,000 after buying an additional 62,913 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 98.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 44.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,572,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,394,000 after acquiring an additional 481,881 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 78.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,426,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,904,000 after acquiring an additional 627,844 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.3 %

DG opened at $143.21 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $222.99.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.22%.

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.