Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 152,586 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 40,151 shares during the period. Professional Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $11,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 1.2% in the second quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 9,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 2.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $657,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bernstein Bank reduced their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research began coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG opened at $68.44 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $75.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.28.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.88%.

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.