Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 148.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,373 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 92,944 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.07% of Dollar General worth $11,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company's stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 4,048 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Dollar General by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,087,000 after buying an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company's stock worth $24,385,000 after acquiring an additional 316,005 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.26.

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Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock traded up $2.17 on Friday, hitting $83.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,955,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,530,805. The company has a market capitalization of $18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $164.12.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

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.