Ledyard National Bank Sells 1,342 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Ledyard National Bank cut its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,536 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,342 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 18.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 98.1% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,884,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,141 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 283.1% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 927,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,077,000 after purchasing an additional 685,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 78.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,426,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,904,000 after purchasing an additional 627,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 744.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 638,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,574,000 after acquiring an additional 563,095 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $147.00 price target (up from $127.00) on shares of Dollar General in a report on Friday, March 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.08.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Dollar General stock traded down $0.93 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.22. 427,144 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,292,700. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a fifty-two week low of $101.09 and a fifty-two week high of $221.50. The company has a market capitalization of $30.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.42. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $150.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.17.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

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.