Van ECK Associates Corp Purchases 333 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 22,353 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 85.7% in 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 holdings in shares of Dollar General by 231.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 37,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,168,000 after purchasing an additional 26,165 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake 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 buying an additional 47,534 shares during the period. Kiltearn Partners LLP bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,587,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,987,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,397,284.90. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Dollar General news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 42,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,397,284.90. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lowered Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Melius Research assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.05.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $76.95 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.47. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $76.76 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

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.