LRT Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

LRT Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,554 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,662 shares during the quarter. Dollar General comprises approximately 1.6% of LRT Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. LRT Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 17.6% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,401,000 after purchasing an additional 6,372 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Dollar General by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 47,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after buying an additional 2,888 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. This represents a 1.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG opened at $91.70 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.60. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $147.87. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.16.

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.