Northwest Bancshares Inc. Sells 1,267 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,571 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,267 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,491,000. Beddow Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Dollar General by 95.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,543,000 after buying an additional 32,022 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $12,178,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 9,882.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 5,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the 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 directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DG. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $76.51 on Wednesday. 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 12 month low of $73.51 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.14.

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 business had revenue of $10.21 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

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.