Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $86.43 Million Stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,139,958 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,679 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.52% of Dollar General worth $86,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% during the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE DG opened at $87.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.45, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $164.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.77 and a 200-day moving average of $77.83.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.26 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 46.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This trade represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.