Haverford Trust Co Sells 905 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Haverford Trust Co cut its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,528 shares of the company’s stock after selling 905 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 160,853 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,208,000 after purchasing an additional 759,869 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $399,433,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Dollar General by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,243,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,899,000 after purchasing an additional 182,300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.6 %

DG stock opened at $82.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.72. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $164.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted 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. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The company had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares in the company, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DG shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Dollar General from $73.00 to $69.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

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.