Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 12,808 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 493,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,808 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $37,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 200.4% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peoples Bank KS increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE:DG opened at $74.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.33. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

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.