Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Invests $3.46 Million in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake of 39,327 shares in Dollar General, valued at approximately $3.46 million, highlighting growing institutional interest in the company.
• Dollar General reported earnings of $1.78 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.46, with quarterly revenue reaching $10.44 billion, up 5.3% year-over-year.
• Barclays and UBS Group both increased their price targets for Dollar General stock, reflecting positive sentiment, with UBS raising its target to $128.00.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 39,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,458,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 170.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 39.4% during the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $1.76 on Monday, reaching $105.80. 2,695,399 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,868,284. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.31. Dollar General Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $126.98. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $109.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.45.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given 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 yield of 2.23%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on DG shares. Melius upgraded shares of 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. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Dollar General from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Dollar General from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total value of $718,223.28. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,563 shares in the company, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.