Baupost Group LLC MA Sells 243,000 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Baupost Group LLC MA reduced its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,060,800 shares of the company's stock after selling 243,000 shares during the period. Dollar General comprises approximately 4.5% of Baupost Group LLC MA's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Baupost Group LLC MA owned 0.94% of Dollar General worth $156,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DG. Bank of America decreased their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Melius raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded up $3.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $93.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,170,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,863,317. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $81.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.41. The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. 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 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General 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.