Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 40.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,807 shares of the company's stock after selling 66,304 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,416,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC increased its position in Dollar General by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company's stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. Leibman Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $2,018,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 5,624.9% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company's stock worth $24,385,000 after buying an additional 316,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,158,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Melius raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on 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, Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $95.16.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.6%

DG stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $93.55. 2,562,577 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,995,693. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $88.81 and a 200-day moving average of $79.95. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $147.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. Dollar General's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

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.