Studio Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 200.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 850 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $72,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Dollar General by 148.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,257,000 after buying an additional 765,206 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 319.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,324,000 after acquiring an additional 704,639 shares during the last quarter. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,081,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter worth approximately $55,986,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % 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, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 1,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 42,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,397,284.90. The trade was a 2.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.00.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $74.93 on Friday. 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 $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.22. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $72.12 and a 52 week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.65%.

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.