Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Boosts Position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC has increased its holdings in Dollar General Corporation by 50.1%, acquiring an additional 30,041 shares, bringing its total ownership to 90,000 shares valued at approximately $7.9 million.
• Securities analysts have raised their target prices for Dollar General, with Citigroup increasing its target from $101.00 to $112.00, and Evercore ISI from $105.00 to $117.00, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• Dollar General recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a current dividend yield of 2.19% and a payout ratio of 45.04%.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG - Free Report) by 50.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 90,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,041 shares during the quarter. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,914,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. now owns 500 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 170.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 543 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 39.4% in the 1st quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 570 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Melius Research upgraded Dollar General from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.40.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 46,563 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,261,619. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the business'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 value of $718,223.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.56% of the company's stock.

Dollar General Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE DG traded up $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $106.07. The stock had a trading volume of 651,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,845,081. The company has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.69. Dollar General Corporation has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $126.98.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Corporation 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, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.04%.

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.