Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 4,974 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,777 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,974 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $79.15 on Friday. 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 $164.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DG. Bank of America decreased their price target on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

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.