Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Naples Global Advisors LLC

Naples Global Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 54.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,748 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,972 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 69.3% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Dollar General by 148.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 144,050 shares of the company's stock worth $12,182,000 after buying an additional 86,176 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,058 shares of the company's stock worth $174,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 111,945 shares of the company's stock worth $9,467,000 after acquiring an additional 10,521 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.4 %

DG stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.57. 2,809,082 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,254,984. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.71 and a 200-day moving average of $84.04. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 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 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Dollar General from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. HSBC cut their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $96.77.

About Dollar General

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.