Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Acquired by Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 952.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 659,829 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 597,133 shares during the period. Dollar General makes up 0.6% of Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned 0.30% of Dollar General worth $50,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Dollar General by 2.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $596,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in Dollar General by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $657,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 953 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Peoples Bank KS raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Peoples Bank KS now owns 1,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $74.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.82. 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 fifty-two week low of $66.43 and a fifty-two week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.33% and a return on equity of 18.85%. The business’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dollar General news, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was 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 trade 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Dollar General from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett lowered shares of Dollar General from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General 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.