Ballentine Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Ballentine Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,482 shares of the company’s stock after selling 731 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Dollar General by 162.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,185,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,472,372,000 after purchasing an additional 11,257,537 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Dollar General by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,071,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,408,514,000 after buying an additional 3,360,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth approximately $337,150,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,676,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,539,026,000 after buying an additional 2,273,119 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 1st quarter valued at $301,738,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE DG opened at $80.69 on Wednesday. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $77.96 and a 1 year high of $168.07. 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 PE ratio of 11.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.41 and a 200 day moving average of $133.21.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued 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 company had revenue of $10.21 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.35%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.95.

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.