Woodline Partners LP Invests $1 Million in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,207 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,001,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 398.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Dollar General by 323.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 55,506 shares of the company's stock worth $4,208,000 after purchasing an additional 10,106 shares during the period. State of Wyoming grew its stake in Dollar General by 174.7% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 4,810 shares of the company's stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Dollar General by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 117,720 shares of the company's stock worth $8,926,000 after purchasing an additional 17,478 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.17. The stock had a trading volume of 5,245,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,000,937. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $141.24. The stock's 50 day moving average is $92.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $21.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.83 earnings per share. Dollar General's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Dollar General from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $120.00 price target on Dollar General in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $98.96.

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.