Blue Trust Inc. Sells 901 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 674 shares of the company’s stock after selling 901 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $51,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 200.4% in the 3rd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $78.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company’s fifty day moving average is $73.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.88.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on DG shares. Barclays cut their target price on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. HSBC lowered their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % 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.

Dollar General 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.