Candriam S.C.A. Increases Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 3.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,584 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,211,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,684,000 after purchasing an additional 51,937 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,039,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 74.5% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 13,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 5,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wambolt & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $80.69 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.45. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $77.96 and a 1-year high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.35%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett downgraded Dollar General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group downgraded Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $103.00 in a report on Friday, August 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.