Prudential Financial Inc. Reduces Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,160 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,695 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $9,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 36.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,640,000 after buying an additional 8,310 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Dollar General by 112.9% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 14.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 387.7% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 32,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,783,000 after purchasing an additional 26,164 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG opened at $86.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.85. The company has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $164.12.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on DG shares. Bank of America dropped their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $92.26.

About Dollar General

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.