Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 53.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,150 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,213 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DG opened at $76.51 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $73.51 and a 52 week high of $168.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.45.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 36.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on DG shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Dollar General from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 2,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $250,187.42. The trade was a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 41,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,298,812. The trade was a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.