Franklin Resources Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 304.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 279,833 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 210,660 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Dollar General worth $21,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on DG shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Gordon Haskett cut shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.26.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.7 %

DG opened at $92.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $159.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.02. 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 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. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.18%.

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.