M.D. Sass LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

M.D. Sass LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 303,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares during the quarter. Dollar General makes up about 1.9% of M.D. Sass LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. M.D. Sass LLC owned about 0.14% of Dollar General worth $25,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 117.7% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General during the first quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the second quarter worth about $39,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DG. HSBC dropped their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Melius Research initiated coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. This trade represents a 21.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $74.94. The company had a trading volume of 543,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,212,688. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $72.12 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $80.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.33. The company has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 36.65%.

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.