Cetera Investment Advisers Acquires 78,415 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 211.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 115,527 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,415 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Dollar General were worth $8,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 17.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 69,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,517,000 after purchasing an additional 10,333 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,401,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,888 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $91.70 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.60. The company has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $147.87.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.16.

Dollar General 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.