NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Sells 23,520 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 60.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,149 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,520 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,913,036,000 after acquiring an additional 160,853 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock worth $892,199,000 after buying an additional 1,528,450 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company's stock worth $405,425,000 after buying an additional 118,204 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $399,433,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company's stock worth $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on Dollar General from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Melius Research upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Melius raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.96.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.1%

DG stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.17. The company had a trading volume of 5,245,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,000,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.39. The company has a market capitalization of $21.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $141.24.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

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.