Ethic Inc. Buys 2,392 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 21.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,569 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,392 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,029,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DG. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,424,000 after buying an additional 3,994,070 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $140,421,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after buying an additional 1,528,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Dollar General by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,380,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,310,000 after buying an additional 821,608 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of DG opened at $86.86 on Wednesday. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $147.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $88.20 and its 200-day moving average is $79.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Melius Research upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This trade represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Dollar General 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.