Russell Investments Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Dollar General by 12%, owning over 1.47 million shares valued at approximately $129.24 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Two Sigma Investments LP and Vanguard Group Inc., made significant increases to their holdings in Dollar General during recent quarters.
• Dollar General reported a better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing analysts' consensus estimates, and announced a dividend of $0.59 per share, yielding 2.0% annually.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,470,009 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 157,479 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.67% of Dollar General worth $129,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 323.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock worth $178,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,776 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 5,440.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,582,569 shares of the company's stock worth $139,155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,004 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 398.2% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company's stock worth $133,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,200 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,433,202 shares of the company's stock worth $2,324,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,201,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,770,542 shares of the company's stock worth $1,122,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,206 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 41,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,646,027.76. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 46,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,261,619. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price objective on Dollar General in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price 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, Oppenheimer raised Dollar General from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.52.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $115.26 on Wednesday. Dollar General Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $112.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.67. The company has a market capitalization of $25.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.0%. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

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.

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