Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Sells 19,359 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 64,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,359 shares during the period. Dollar General comprises approximately 1.2% of Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $8,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 78.0% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.4 %

Dollar General stock traded down $1.96 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.19. The company had a trading volume of 1,752,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,308,761. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $30.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $101.09 and a 1-year high of $221.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $150.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.17.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DG shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Dollar General from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Dollar General from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $153.08.

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.