Greenleaf Trust Boosts Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Greenleaf Trust grew its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,557 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,089 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 37.7% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 792 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 200.4% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DG. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. HSBC dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE DG opened at $71.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.71 and a 200-day moving average of $87.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The company has a market cap of $15.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced 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 company had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.88%.

Dollar General Company 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.