Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Grows Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 90.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,620 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,315 shares during the quarter. Dollar General comprises approximately 0.9% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JBR Co Financial Management Inc raised its position in Dollar General by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. JBR Co Financial Management Inc now owns 3,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 87.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 69,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,279,000 after buying an additional 32,524 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 96.1% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 742,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,269,000 after buying an additional 363,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 37,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after buying an additional 9,402 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DG. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Gordon Haskett cut Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG opened at $76.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.67.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $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 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.