Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 9,733 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 467,688 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,733 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $61,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DG. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Argus dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.95.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $86.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.44. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.05. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 34.35%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,397,284.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,397,284.90. The disclosure for this purchase 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.