Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Increases By 8.5%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,860,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the March 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Dollar General by 162.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,185,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,472,372,000 after acquiring an additional 11,257,537 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457,393 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $337,150,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,676,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,539,026,000 after buying an additional 2,273,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Dollar General by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.19. 1,752,834 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,308,956. Dollar General has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $221.50. The firm has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $150.30 and a 200-day moving average of $136.37.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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, sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 31.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $153.08.

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.