Monarch Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 39.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,793 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,465 shares during the period. Monarch Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DG. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Providence First Trust Co bought a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Dollar General by 279.8% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 809 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.72, for a total value of $76,628.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,532 shares in the company, valued at $4,596,951.04. The trade was a 1.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE DG opened at $111.11 on Wednesday. Dollar General Co. has a 12 month low of $66.43 and a 12 month high of $135.46. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.13. The stock has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.26.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 3rd. The company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $10.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 45.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised Dollar General from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $96.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $79.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.04.

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.