Channing Global Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 18.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,405 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,975 shares during the period. Dollar General accounts for approximately 2.5% of Channing Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,822,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $33,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in Dollar General in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 200.4% in the third quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 850 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Gordon Haskett downgraded shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Dollar General presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $96.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Dollar General Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of DG stock opened at $74.15 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $74.14 and its 200 day moving average is $85.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 38.88%.

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.