Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC Buys 4,048 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 16.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,827 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,186,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company's stock valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $194,832,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $169,257,000 after buying an additional 765,206 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Dollar General by 319.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,324,000 after purchasing an additional 704,639 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They set a "hold" rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $98.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $68.80. 1,906,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,766,299. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.44. 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 $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $15.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Dollar General's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.