ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $7.53 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,174 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $194,832,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Dollar General by 148.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after buying an additional 765,206 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 319.6% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,324,000 after acquiring an additional 704,639 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bernstein Bank lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, 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 transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG opened at $68.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $75.53 and a 200-day moving average of $91.35. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. 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 (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 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.