Hamel Associates Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Hamel Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 22.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,605 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,669 shares during the quarter. Hamel Associates Inc.'s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Norges Bank bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 323.1% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock worth $178,491,000 after buying an additional 1,797,776 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 398.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company's stock worth $133,200,000 after buying an additional 1,404,200 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 8.5% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,770,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,206 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General by 215.6% during 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. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,261,619. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Dollar General from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $116.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.40.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of DG stock traded down $2.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $105.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,066,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,856,172. The company has a market cap of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.31. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $109.58 and a 200-day moving average of $91.45. Dollar General Corporation has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $126.98.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Dollar General had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Dollar General's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Dollar General's payout ratio 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.