Equity Investment Corp Increases Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 60.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 951,329 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 359,757 shares during the quarter. Dollar General accounts for 1.9% of Equity Investment Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Equity Investment Corp owned approximately 0.43% of Dollar General worth $80,454,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Dollar General by 3.5% during the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 4.3% in the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 3.8% in the second quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 7.3% in the second quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.40 per share, with a total value of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,298,812. This represents a 1.23 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total value of $174,186.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $75.88 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.85 and a 200 day moving average of $109.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $73.51 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.79 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. Dollar General’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. HSBC cut their price objective on Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group cut Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Dollar General from $169.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.45.

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.