Vontobel Holding Ltd. Boosts Stake in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 34.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,620 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,546 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,913,036,000 after buying an additional 160,853 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $405,425,000 after purchasing an additional 118,204 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $399,433,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Dollar General by 32.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:DG traded down $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $114.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,041,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,095,665. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.46. Dollar General Corporation has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $135.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 1.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 2.81%. Dollar General's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $101.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Cfra Research raised shares of Dollar General to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.08.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $222,497.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,261,619. This represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,646,027.76. This represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.