Sage Investment Counsel LLC Purchases Shares of 9,473 Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000. Dollar General accounts for 0.9% of Sage Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 4,048 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,650,000. Leibman Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 166,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,087,000 after purchasing an additional 64,336 shares during the period. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 5,624.9% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 321,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,385,000 after purchasing an additional 316,005 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Dollar General news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. This trade represents a 23.33 % 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Dollar General from $100.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.77.

Dollar General Stock Performance

DG stock opened at $74.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.33 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.31 and a 200-day moving average of $81.47. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $66.43 and a 12-month high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

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