Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $959,000 Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,911 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,626 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,648 shares of the company's stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,534 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,066 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 107,306 shares of the company's stock worth $8,137,000 after purchasing an additional 16,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 74.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,142 shares of the company's stock worth $921,000 after buying an additional 5,171 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of DG stock traded down $0.25 on Friday, reaching $111.59. 2,319,249 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,094,144. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $135.46. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $96.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.87. The stock has a market cap of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.11%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on DG shares. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Dollar General from $85.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Dollar General from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.04.

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.