Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,024 shares of the company’s stock after selling 679 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $12,047,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 294.5% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,573,000 after purchasing an additional 14,127 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,861,000. Professional Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 150,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,523,000 after purchasing an additional 16,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Live Oak Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,374,000. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.08.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.8 %

DG stock opened at $145.68 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $101.09 and a 12 month high of $222.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $149.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.86.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Company 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.