Sentry LLC Increases Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sentry LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $2,018,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $72.04 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.84 and its 200 day moving average is $88.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

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.