Sanctuary Advisors LLC Has $1.47 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 35.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,353 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,328 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd 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. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 3.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company's stock worth $441,899,000 after buying an additional 182,300 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $194,832,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,434,960 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,355,000 after acquiring an additional 31,200 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bernstein Bank dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Daiwa America cut Dollar General from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.27.

Dollar General Stock Up 3.4 %

DG stock traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $76.40. The company had a trading volume of 5,794,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,307,119. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $72.12 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 2.37 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.54.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors 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 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.