Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DG. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Dollar General by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 44,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,925,000 after acquiring an additional 9,757 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Dollar General by 11.7% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Dollar General by 7.1% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 21,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 66.8% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after buying an additional 7,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in shares of Dollar General by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 29,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,918,000 after buying an additional 6,212 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.27, for a total value of $451,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,056,636.94. The trade was a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Emily C. Taylor sold 4,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was 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 $1,206,128. This 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on DG shares. HSBC decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Dollar General from $97.00 to $82.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reduced 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.18.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of DG opened at $68.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.85. Dollar General Co. has a twelve month low of $66.43 and a twelve month high of $168.07. 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 has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 38.88%.

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.