Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 18,119 Shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 12.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 158,072 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,119 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.07% of Dollar General worth $13,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,229 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,837,000 after acquiring an additional 1,876 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 18,309 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 1,968.8% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 103,441 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,843,000 after buying an additional 98,441 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $718,223.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,646,027.76. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,216 shares of company stock worth $1,017,349 over the last 90 days. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE:DG traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $111.47. 4,972,260 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,092,281. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $24.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.26. Dollar General Corporation has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $135.46. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $98.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.81.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Dollar General's payout ratio is 45.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on DG. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Dollar General from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Dollar General from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.04.

About Dollar General

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.