First Trust Advisors LP Grows Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 687.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 515,016 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 449,604 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.23% of Dollar General worth $39,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 17,414 shares of the company's stock worth $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 25.4% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,315 shares of the company's stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 3,504 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company's stock worth $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 10,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $263,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $92.49. 3,048,316 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,923,836. The company has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $84.29 and its 200-day moving average is $78.83. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on DG shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Melius upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $94.75.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.