South Dakota Investment Council Buys 19,148 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 138,954 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,148 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.06% of Dollar General worth $18,891,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DG. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 78.0% in the 4th quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Dollar General by 48.3% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Dollar General stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $142.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,430,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,351,519. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $149.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $135.07. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $101.09 and a twelve month high of $222.99. The firm has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.88, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DG. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.