Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Grows Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 87.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 734 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $127,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Dollar General by 99.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 9th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bernstein Bank reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.3 %

DG stock opened at $72.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.94.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.