Hennessy Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Dollar General by 27.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,925,000 after purchasing an additional 9,757 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 21,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,874,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 66.8% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,584,000 after buying an additional 7,826 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 26.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 29,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,918,000 after acquiring an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total transaction of $451,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $68.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.85. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07. The firm has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on Dollar General in a report on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

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.