Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Increases Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 821.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,946 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 621,299 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $52,842,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allianz SE purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $507,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $494,000. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 38,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Dollar General by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 114,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,688,000 after purchasing an additional 11,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Dollar General by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 64,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,923,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $87.67 on Wednesday. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $164.12. The stock has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $76.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.88. 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 quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.