Citigroup Inc. Raises Holdings in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 27.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 241,418 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,097 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.11% of Dollar General worth $21,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DG. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the company's stock valued at $987,000 after acquiring an additional 813 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 136,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,366,000 after acquiring an additional 79,759 shares during the period. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 42,076 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,190,000 after acquiring an additional 3,867 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DG. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Dollar General from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Citigroup increased their target price on Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Dollar General from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.80.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded down $2.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $112.62. 3,257,500 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,654,206. Dollar General Corporation has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $126.98. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $112.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.