Capital International Investors Sells 5,501,270 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Capital International Investors cut its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,321,342 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,501,270 shares during the quarter. Capital International Investors’ holdings in Dollar General were worth $706,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.75.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $93.15 on Friday. 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 $20.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.11 and its 200-day moving average is $78.47. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $66.43 and a one year high of $147.87.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Dollar General’s 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.