Equitable Trust Co. Buys 6,880 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Equitable Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 45.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,067 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,880 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth $33,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth $57,000. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 200.4% during 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. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 Dollar General 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 owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $74.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $74.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.64.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released 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 net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.