Rafferty Asset Management LLC Purchases 2,252 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 10.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,285 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $89,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $735,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,004,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 104.0% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after buying an additional 7,189 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $246,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total transaction of $76,628.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Melius upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Dollar General from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Gordon Haskett lowered Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.48.

Dollar General Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of DG opened at $102.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $147.79.

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

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.18%.

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.