Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Acquired by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 35.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,749 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 57,374 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.10% of Dollar General worth $18,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DG. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 3.4% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 4,341 shares of the company's stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth about $646,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 7.4% during the second quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the company's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 756 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 35,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,669,000 after purchasing an additional 3,004 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. The trade was a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares of the company's stock, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 41.05 % 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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DG. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Dollar General from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.27.

Dollar General Price Performance

Dollar General stock traded up $1.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $82.40. The stock had a trading volume of 3,396,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,288,917. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.57, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.44. 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 1-year low of $72.12 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The stock's fifty day moving average is $79.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.92.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

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.