Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 125,625 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,195 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $17,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Manhattan Co. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 447.4% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 104 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Argus increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.08.

Dollar General Trading Down 0.6 %

DG traded down $0.86 during trading on Friday, hitting $144.82. 1,517,479 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,365,952. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $101.09 and a 1 year high of $222.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $149.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.15. The firm has a market cap of $31.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.