Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Cuts Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 75.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,010,045 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,726,011 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 2.28% of Dollar General worth $379,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 279.8% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Melius Research upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on 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. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup raised Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.1 %

Dollar General stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $92.49. 3,048,316 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,923,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $147.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $84.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.83.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Dollar General's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

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.