Sterling Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,240 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,752 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $6,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the company's stock worth $3,412,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 9,175.0% in the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 35,987 shares of the company's stock worth $2,729,000 after purchasing an additional 35,599 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co raised its holdings in Dollar General by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 9,386 shares of the company's stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $45,899,000. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,838,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. Melius Research raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius raised shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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, fourteen have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.75.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG traded down $1.84 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $88.47. 2,828,703 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,849,372. The company's fifty day moving average price is $80.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. 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 $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during 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%. Dollar General's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Dollar General's payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

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.