National Pension Service Has $60.66 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,196 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,840 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $60,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Dollar General by 48.3% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DG. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. StockNews.com raised Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.08.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

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

Dollar General Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of DG traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $139.02. 723,907 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,284,587. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $101.09 and a 52 week high of $221.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.15. The company has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) 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. The firm had revenue of $9.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.