Vestcor Inc Decreases Position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc has decreased its holdings in Dollar General by 67.7% in the first quarter, reducing its shares to 4,475 after selling 9,395 shares.
• Dollar General's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.78 earnings per share against an estimated $1.46, with revenue of $10.44 billion, a 5.3% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.2%.

Vestcor Inc decreased its position in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 67.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,475 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,395 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Dollar General were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,770,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,122,914,000 after buying an additional 1,003,206 shares during the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.9% in the first quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,197,437 shares of the company's stock worth $369,081,000 after purchasing an additional 155,966 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,380,501 shares of the company's stock worth $256,310,000 after purchasing an additional 821,608 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its stake in Dollar General by 323.1% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,776 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Dollar General by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,023,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,451,000 after buying an additional 201,386 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total value of $718,223.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,646 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,646,027.76. The trade was a 13.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.

Dollar General Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of DG traded up $2.26 on Thursday, reaching $115.58. 2,678,450 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,823,577. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $110.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.27. Dollar General Corporation has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $126.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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 17.93% and a net margin of 2.81%. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is 45.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $93.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Dollar General from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $112.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a "reduce" rating to an "accumulate" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.40.

Dollar General 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.