Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Sells 31,580 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 38.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 51,305 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,580 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $4,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DG. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Dollar General by 3.5% during the 1st 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 during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 4.3% during the second quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 30.6% in the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup downgraded Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.00.

Dollar General Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of DG opened at $74.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $72.12 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.00.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 36.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. This trade represents a 41.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.83 per share, for a total transaction of $80,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. This represents a 2.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Company Profile

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.