Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 13,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,808,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Manhattan Co. boosted its position in Dollar General by 447.4% in the 4th quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 104 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Financial Freedom LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Dollar General in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Dollar General during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Dollar General

In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.23, for a total value of $958,617.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Dollar General from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Dollar General from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.08.

Dollar General Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of DG opened at $145.68 on Friday. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $101.09 and a 52-week high of $222.99. The company has a market capitalization of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $149.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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

Dollar General Announces Dividend

The firm 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 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.