Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,744 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,317 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $7,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DG. Bernstein Bank reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of DG opened at $76.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.67.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th were issued 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 3.08%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

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

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.