Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Buys New Position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $378,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 1st quarter valued at about $280,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 27,567 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,424,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 74.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,142 shares of the company's stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 5,171 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 107,306 shares of the company's stock worth $8,137,000 after acquiring an additional 16,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 48.9% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,292 shares of the company's stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Dollar General from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Dollar General from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Cfra Research raised Dollar General to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price target on Dollar General in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7%

Dollar General stock opened at $113.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Dollar General Corporation has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $132.48. The company has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $105.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.97.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Dollar General's payout ratio is 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.

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