Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 64.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,354,248 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 531,884 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned 0.62% of Dollar General worth $102,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company's stock worth $306,424,000 after acquiring an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $140,421,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock worth $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG traded up $2.59 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.19. The stock had a trading volume of 4,915,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,676,264. The firm's 50 day moving average is $76.83 and its 200 day moving average is $77.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $164.12.

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Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays cut their price target on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.26.

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.