Equitable Trust Co. Boosts Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 45.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,067 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,880 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 206.3% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 19,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,468,000 after buying an additional 13,042 shares during the period. Tevis Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $869,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 9,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,590,000 after buying an additional 5,007 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $451,620.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $74.06 on Tuesday. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.64. 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 market cap of $16.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.