Greenleaf Trust Buys 5,543 Shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,100 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,543 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust owned approximately 0.05% of Dollar General worth $9,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 1st quarter valued at $6,302,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 143,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,290,000 after buying an additional 1,528 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 20,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after buying an additional 1,479 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 1st quarter valued at $3,182,000. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 117,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,292,000 after buying an additional 19,431 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 3.1%

Dollar General stock opened at $112.68 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $104.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.09. Dollar General Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $135.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.31. 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 (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Dollar General had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Dollar General's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's payout ratio is currently 45.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Dollar General from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial increased 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, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.08.

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.

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