3,276 Shares in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) Purchased by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in Dollar General Corporation, purchasing 3,276 shares valued at approximately $288,000.
• The company's recent earnings report revealed an EPS of $1.78, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.32, with revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.59 was recently paid, reflecting an annualized yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 45.04%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in Dollar General by 323.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,776 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General by 5,440.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,004 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Dollar General by 398.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,200 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,770,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 215.6% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,229,105 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,191,000 after acquiring an additional 839,698 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total transaction of $718,223.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 41,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,646,027.76. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $222,497.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,563 shares in the company, valued at $5,261,619. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Dollar General from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Dollar General from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.40.

Dollar General Stock Up 1.6%

DG stock traded up $1.78 during trading on Thursday, hitting $115.10. 1,371,947 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,814,301. The firm's 50 day moving average is $110.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The stock has a market cap of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.31. Dollar General Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $126.98.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 17.93%. Dollar General's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Dollar General's payout ratio is currently 45.04%.

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.