Sabal Trust CO Has $632,000 Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sabal Trust CO increased its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,340 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,083 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position in Dollar General by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Dollar General by 32.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 5,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in Dollar General by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 276,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,976,000 after buying an additional 45,425 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its position in Dollar General by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 32,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,489,000 after buying an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. lifted its position in Dollar General by 90.3% during the 4th quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 97,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,402,000 after buying an additional 46,315 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 5.6 %

Dollar General stock opened at $74.15 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $73.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.82. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced 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). Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is presently 38.88%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Bernstein Bank dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

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.