Centerstone Investors LLC Sells 6,161 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Centerstone Investors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,381 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,161 shares during the quarter. Dollar General accounts for about 2.3% of Centerstone Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Centerstone Investors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,231,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,913,036,000 after buying an additional 160,853 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,528,450 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,361,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,425,000 after purchasing an additional 118,204 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $399,433,000. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994,070 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $100.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $145.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.49.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 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 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Melius upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Dollar General from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.48.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.56% 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.