Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Hamel Associates Inc.

Hamel Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 69.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,274 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,238 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $74.25 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.