HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 29,947 Shares of Dollar General Corporation $DG

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) by 15.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 166,784 shares of the company’s stock after selling 29,947 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $17,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,803,000. Arista Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Dollar General during the third quarter worth about $351,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Dollar General by 16.3% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 805,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,263,000 after buying an additional 112,862 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,817,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,067,403,000 after buying an additional 384,447 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Dollar General by 483.1% in the second quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after buying an additional 25,377 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 19,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.01, for a total transaction of $2,530,103.66. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,700,059.79. This represents a 30.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Anita C. Elliott sold 2,516 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.52, for a total transaction of $333,420.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 29,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,888,666.88. This represents a 7.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 58,673 shares of company stock worth $7,713,389. 0.56% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore boosted their target price on Dollar General from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $112.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Dollar General from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $141.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.44.

Dollar General Stock Performance

NYSE DG opened at $151.81 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.74. Dollar General Corporation has a 12-month low of $70.01 and a 12-month high of $155.00. The company has a market capitalization of $33.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $10.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.60 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 18.59%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Dollar General has set its FY 2025 guidance at 6.300-6.500 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Dollar General Corporation will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 6th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 6th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Dollar General’s payout ratio is currently 40.76%.

About Dollar General

Dollar General Corporation is a U.S.-based variety and discount retailer operating a large network of small-format stores that serve primarily rural and suburban communities. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DG and is headquartered in the Nashville/Goodlettsville, Tennessee area. Founded in 1939, Dollar General has grown from a regional operation into one of the nation’s prominent low-price retailers focused on convenience and value.

Dollar General’s stores offer a wide assortment of everyday consumables and household goods, including food and beverage items, cleaning supplies, health and beauty products, paper goods, apparel basics, seasonal merchandise and small household items.