Hamel Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 69.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,238 shares during the quarter. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DG shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $74.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.