Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) Shares Acquired by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,427 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,726 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Dollar General were worth $9,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 323.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $178,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797,776 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 398.2% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,756,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $133,200,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,200 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 215.6% in the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,229,105 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,191,000 after acquiring an additional 839,698 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,380,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,310,000 after acquiring an additional 821,608 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on DG. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price target on Dollar General in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim increased their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays increased their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.04.

Dollar General Price Performance

Dollar General stock traded down $3.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $109.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,725,828 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,114,153. The company has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.31. Dollar General Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $126.98. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $107.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.20.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $222,497.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,261,619. This trade represents a 4.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total transaction of $718,223.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,646 shares in the company, valued at $4,646,027.76. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.