Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 28.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,973 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after acquiring an additional 8,388,735 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in Dollar General during the 3rd quarter valued at $194,832,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 148.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,257,000 after purchasing an additional 765,206 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 319.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,324,000 after buying an additional 704,639 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Dollar General during the second quarter valued at $55,986,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Dollar General from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Telsey Advisory Group decreased 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 report on Monday, December 2nd. HSBC dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Dollar General from $97.00 to $95.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Warren F. Bryant purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.83 per share, with a total value of $80,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 42,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,397,284.90. The trade was a 2.44 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total value of $208,957.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at $762,819.75. The trade was a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG opened at $81.59 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 1 year low of $72.12 and a 1 year high of $168.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.44.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 5th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $10.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. Dollar General had a net margin of 3.57% and a return on equity of 20.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 5.78 EPS for the current year.

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.