Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Rises By 19.6%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,900,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the December 15th total of 9,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 5.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.44. 3,380,183 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,174,597. Dollar General has a 1-year low of $66.43 and a 1-year high of $168.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.59.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. Dollar General’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Dollar General will post 5.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,128. This represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Dollar General by 27.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,925,000 after acquiring an additional 9,757 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Dollar General by 1,500.9% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,557,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Dollar General by 34.7% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 126,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,734,000 after buying an additional 32,600 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its holdings in Dollar General by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Dollar General by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 22,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,959,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bernstein Bank reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

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.