Sigma Planning Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sigma Planning Corp lifted its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,299 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,811 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 117.7% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter worth about $39,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Dollar General from $101.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Bernstein Bank lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.45.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $75.88 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.84. The company has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $73.51 and a one year high of $168.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The firm had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 36.65%.

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.