Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,220,000 shares, a growth of 21.4% from the August 15th total of 6,770,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,819.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DG. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 278.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,071,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,408,514,000 after buying an additional 3,360,413 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 10.5% in the first quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 191,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,932,000 after buying an additional 18,280 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,683,000 after buying an additional 26,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in Dollar General by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,340,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,194,000 after acquiring an additional 320,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,701,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,964,892. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.54. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $18.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Dollar General will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 34.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DG. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Dollar General from $147.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus dropped their price target on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

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.