Monarch Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 183.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,328 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,330 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Dollar General were worth $859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DG. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 792 shares of the company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of DG stock traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,380,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,174,597. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.59.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Dollar General's revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on DG shares. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.18.

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.