Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 160,853 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,231,285 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 160,853 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.47% of Dollar General worth $1,913,036,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 36.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,211 shares of the company's stock worth $2,640,000 after acquiring an additional 8,310 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Dollar General by 10.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 111,945 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,467,000 after purchasing an additional 10,521 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 12.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 26,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 3,009 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth $692,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Dollar General by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 445,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,941,000 after acquiring an additional 139,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.26.

Dollar General Trading Up 2.3 %

Dollar General stock traded up $1.95 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $88.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,922,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,662,304. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $164.12. The stock has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.51 and a 200-day moving average of $77.86. 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 (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. Dollar General's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Dollar General's payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

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.