Westpac Banking Corp Trims Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Westpac Banking Corp lowered its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 67.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,997 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,824 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Dollar General in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Providence First Trust Co purchased a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Dollar General by 126.4% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Stock Down 1.7 %

DG stock opened at $92.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.40. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $161.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $78.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.13.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $10.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.26 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 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.83 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on DG shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $108.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Dollar General from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Dollar General in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.26.

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.