Insider Selling: Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Director Sells 6,000 Shares of Stock

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.67. 3,119,733 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,897,767. The company has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $77.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $72.12 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company's revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dollar General

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company's stock worth $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company's stock worth $441,899,000 after acquiring an additional 182,300 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,355,000 after purchasing an additional 31,200 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DG. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a "hold" rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Gordon Haskett upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.27.

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.