Conning Inc. Makes New Investment in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Conning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DG. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the third quarter valued at $26,000. First Manhattan Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 447.4% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan Co. now owns 104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new position in shares of Dollar General during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Dollar General during the first quarter valued at $28,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on DG shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Dollar General from $147.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays upgraded Dollar General from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Dollar General from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Dollar General from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.96.

Dollar General Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of DG opened at $147.46 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.63 and its 200 day moving average is $133.15. The company has a market capitalization of $32.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.42. Dollar General Co. has a 12-month low of $101.09 and a 12-month high of $222.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.15 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Research analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other Dollar General news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.72, for a total value of $468,561.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $4,636,371.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Dollar General

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.