Allianz Asset Management GmbH Grows Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 96.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 742,144 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 363,739 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned 0.34% of Dollar General worth $56,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised Dollar General from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $96.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade 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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DG traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $76.68. The stock had a trading volume of 3,527,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,766,443. The business's fifty day moving average is $73.26 and its 200 day moving average is $82.67. The company has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. 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 $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

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.