State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 852 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 82,094 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $6,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DG. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $194,832,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,958,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $842,208,000 after buying an additional 759,869 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,932,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 60.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 951,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,454,000 after buying an additional 359,757 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.44, for a total value of $367,065.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Dollar General Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Dollar General stock opened at $74.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.48 billion, a PE ratio of 12.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.43. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.55 and its 200 day moving average is $83.71. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $66.43 and a 1 year high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last posted 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 return on equity of 18.85% and a net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 7th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DG shares. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $102.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.77.

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.