Empowered Funds LLC Buys 5,007 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,157 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Dollar General by 231.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,168,000 after acquiring an additional 26,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Dollar General by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,087,000 after acquiring an additional 64,336 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bernstein Bank dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $0.27 on Monday, hitting $72.57. The company had a trading volume of 2,809,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,254,984. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. 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 moving average of $73.71 and a 200-day moving average of $84.04.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 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 business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's payout ratio is 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.