Employees Retirement System of Texas Boosts Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 61.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 71,070 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,170 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Dollar General were worth $5,389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 989 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Dollar General by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $143,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position 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. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its stake in Dollar General by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,633 shares of the company's stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% 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. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE DG traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $97.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,245,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,004,425. The company has a market capitalization of $21.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $141.24. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $92.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.39.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DG. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Dollar General from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Citigroup raised Dollar General from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $69.00 to $101.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price objective on Dollar General in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.96.

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.