Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 41,273 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC reduced its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 73,823 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,273 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $5,597,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DG. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Dollar General during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,679,000. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC grew its stake in Dollar General by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 28,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 4,048 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. bought a new stake in Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, Foundation Resource Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Foundation Resource Management Inc. now owns 99,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bernstein Bank decreased their price target on shares of Dollar General from $98.00 to $94.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Dollar General from $122.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 6th. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. 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 note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.18.

Dollar General Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:DG opened at $68.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.44. Dollar General Co. has a 52 week low of $66.43 and a 52 week high of $168.07. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $75.53 and a 200 day moving average of $91.85.

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 firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Dollar General news, 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 transaction of $367,065.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,128. The trade was a 23.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael M. Calbert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was 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 directly owns 120,322 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,056,636.94. This represents a 4.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.