HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires New Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $664,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 131.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 19,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,968,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,528,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.2 %

Dollar General stock opened at $126.66 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.18. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $173.47. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $138.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.13.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.89 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.85% and a return on equity of 22.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 7.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 9th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 9th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $161.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.41.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.