Commerce Bank Sells 5,993 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Commerce Bank cut its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 45.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,162 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,993 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Dollar General were worth $543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company's stock worth $1,473,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 3,504 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Dollar General by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company's stock worth $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 10,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL bought a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $263,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.64. The company had a trading volume of 3,040,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,927,350. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $147.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $84.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.86. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Dollar General's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Melius Research upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.75.

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.