Sabal Trust CO Grows Stake in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG)

Sabal Trust CO grew its position in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) by 27.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,642 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DG. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $399,433,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 8,426.1% during the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 4,041,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,424,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994,070 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $140,421,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Dollar General by 323.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,354,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,491,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Dollar General by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,767,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,528,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen A. Reardon sold 6,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.56, for a total transaction of $718,223.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,646,027.76. This trade represents a 13.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 1,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $222,497.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,261,619. The trade was a 4.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,216 shares of company stock valued at $1,017,349 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DG. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Dollar General from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $115.00 to $116.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down from $90.00) on shares of Dollar General in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Dollar General from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.08.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG opened at $112.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Dollar General Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $135.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $100.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.26.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 17.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 45.04%.

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.