Greenleaf Trust Has $12.08 Million Position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Greenleaf Trust raised its holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 15.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,881 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,098 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $12,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DG. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. First Manhattan Co. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 447.4% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 104 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of Dollar General stock traded down $0.86 on Friday, reaching $144.82. 1,517,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,365,952. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $149.44 and its 200-day moving average is $133.86. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $222.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $31.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 26.13%. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.22%.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total transaction of $468,561.48. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded shares of Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.08.

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.