Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 406,980 shares of the company’s stock after selling 78,563 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.19% of Dollar General worth $34,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Daiwa America downgraded Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.45.

Dollar General Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE DG traded up $2.22 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $78.10. The company had a trading volume of 142,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,186,068. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.85 and a 200 day moving average of $109.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $73.51 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This represents a 1.23 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.