Pitcairn Co. Acquires New Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Pitcairn Co. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 3,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 20.3% during the 4th quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank KS grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $92.82 on Monday. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $159.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.02.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

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.