Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Acquires 92,063 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 428,383 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,063 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC owned 0.19% of Dollar General worth $32,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after purchasing an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth $194,832,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after acquiring an additional 759,869 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 952.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 659,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,028,000 after acquiring an additional 597,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

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

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $71.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DG. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC lowered their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.04.

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.