Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) Shares Purchased by Equity Investment Corp

Equity Investment Corp grew its position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 32.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,157,140 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 280,321 shares during the period. Dollar General comprises 2.3% of Equity Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Equity Investment Corp owned 0.53% of Dollar General worth $101,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 323.1% during the 4th 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 during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 398.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company's stock worth $133,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,200 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,229,105 shares of the company's stock worth $93,191,000 after acquiring an additional 839,698 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Dollar General by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,380,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,310,000 after purchasing an additional 821,608 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Dollar General from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Sixteen research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.04.

Insider Activity

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

Dollar General Stock Down 2.9%

NYSE:DG traded down $3.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $109.28. The company had a trading volume of 3,686,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,119,330. Dollar General Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $126.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.56. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.04%.

Dollar General Company 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.