Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Holdings Decreased by Harbor Investment Advisory LLC

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 49.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 414 shares of the company’s stock after selling 401 shares during the quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $31,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA purchased a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $194,832,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after purchasing an additional 765,206 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Dollar General by 8.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Dollar General by 319.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,324,000 after purchasing an additional 704,639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America upgraded Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.6 %

Dollar General stock opened at $70.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.55. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. 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.