Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 208 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,111 shares of the company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Peoples Bank KS boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DG opened at $76.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.42. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $168.07. The firm has a market cap of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.