State Street Corp Grows Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

State Street Corp increased its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,958,704 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 4.53% of Dollar General worth $842,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 79.9% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 177,331 shares of the company's stock worth $14,997,000 after purchasing an additional 78,785 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 11,466 shares of the company's stock valued at $970,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in Dollar General by 46.4% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 11,593 shares of the company's stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 79.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centiva Capital LP now owns 5,749 shares of the company's stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded up $1.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $81.59. 6,926,885 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,770,983. The business's 50-day moving average price is $79.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $72.12 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Daiwa America downgraded Dollar General from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.27.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,397,284.90. This trade represents a 2.44 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.