Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Holdings Increased by Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.

Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. grew its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,657 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,863 shares during the period. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $6,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Dollar General by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 26,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,010,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 493,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,427,000 after purchasing an additional 12,808 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absher Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 204.2% during the fourth quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $96.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $72.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.45. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $66.43 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 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%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.25%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

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.