Westpac Banking Corp Invests $979,000 in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $979,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 63,085 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,674,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,027 shares of the company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at $490,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Dollar General by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 16,994 shares of the company's stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 379.0% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 33,348 shares of the company's stock worth $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 26,386 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DG. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Argus raised their price objective on Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $153.08.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG traded up $0.74 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.05. 2,012,471 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,275,292. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $101.09 and a twelve month high of $218.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $30.98 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The business had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Dollar General's payout ratio is 31.22%.

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.