ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,949 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Dollar General by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 31,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 5,793 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 358,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,733,000 after buying an additional 33,836 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 653 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Dollar General news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $130.00 to $90.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Argus cut their price objective on Dollar General from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Dollar General from $139.00 to $100.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $112.57.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG opened at $86.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $77.96 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released 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 firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.35%.

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.