Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Expands By 11.5%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,590,000 shares, an increase of 11.5% from the May 31st total of 5,910,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dollar General

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. American Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 24,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,894,000 after acquiring an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 41.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 16,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,724 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock traded down $4.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $125.43. The stock had a trading volume of 1,302,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,468,660. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Dollar General has a 12 month low of $101.09 and a 12 month high of $173.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.58 billion, a PE ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.43.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.08. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.80%. The company had revenue of $9.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.89 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General will post 7.21 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 34.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.09.

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.