Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Buys 7,592 Shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 60.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,132 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,592 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $2,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DG. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 62.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 96,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,217,000 after acquiring an additional 37,211 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 35.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 68,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,209,000 after acquiring an additional 17,722 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 17,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 3,197 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 3rd quarter worth about $304,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 255,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,082,000 after acquiring an additional 15,087 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $158.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Dollar General in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of Dollar General 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total transaction of $958,617.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DG opened at $137.49 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $221.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $150.07 and a 200-day moving average of $136.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $30.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Dollar General’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s payout ratio is 31.22%.

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.