Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 2,626 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 19.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,911 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,626 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Dollar General by 279.8% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $111.11 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $95.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $135.46.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Dollar General from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Dollar General from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Dollar General to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.