Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,235 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after purchasing an additional 26,813 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,650,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after buying an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Dollar General by 278.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Finally, Kiltearn Partners LLP purchased a new position in Dollar General during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,587,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Dollar General Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE DG opened at $77.09 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $73.51 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.57. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS 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%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DG. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. HSBC cut their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

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.