HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 73.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,149 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,077 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DG. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 76,872 shares of the company's stock worth $5,828,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,947 shares of the company's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 835,750 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,367,000 after purchasing an additional 93,500 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 73.1% in the fourth quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 108,012 shares of the company's stock worth $8,189,000 after purchasing an additional 45,629 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $0.50 on Monday, hitting $83.16. 4,697,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,543,253. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $164.12. The company has a market cap of $18.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $74.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The business 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%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.