Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Position Lessened by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 98.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,894 shares of the company’s stock after selling 407,804 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 85.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,683,000 after acquiring an additional 26,813 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Dollar General by 231.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,168,000 after buying an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in Dollar General by 278.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 64,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after acquiring an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Kiltearn Partners LLP bought a new stake in Dollar General during the second quarter valued at about $9,587,000. Finally, MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 642.0% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 15,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 13,777 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $762,819.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DG. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Argus decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.84.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $81.76 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $85.33 and its 200-day moving average is $114.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.45.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

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.