Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 5,007 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,157 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,007 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DG. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Dollar General by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Creative Planning raised its position in Dollar General by 148.9% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 144,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,182,000 after buying an additional 86,176 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Dollar General by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 111,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,467,000 after buying an additional 10,521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DG shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Dollar General from $94.00 to $83.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. HSBC lowered their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $72.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.03 and a 200-day moving average of $84.94. The company has a market capitalization of $16.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $168.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% 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.