Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC Has $35.04 Million Holdings in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG)

Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 257,733 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,272 shares during the quarter. Dollar General accounts for 2.0% of Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $35,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Dollar General by 18.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,711,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,067,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457,393 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Dollar General in the 4th quarter worth approximately $564,881,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,744,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,329,000 after buying an additional 1,318,412 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 98.1% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,106,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,884,000 after buying an additional 1,043,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Dollar General by 11.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,765,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,202,000 after acquiring an additional 994,813 shares during the period. 91.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dollar General Price Performance

NYSE DG traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $144.77. 507,445 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,351,978. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.44 and a 200-day moving average of $133.86. 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 Co. has a one year low of $101.09 and a one year high of $222.99. The stock has a market cap of $31.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.42.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.09. Dollar General had a return on equity of 26.13% and a net margin of 4.29%. The company had revenue of $9.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Dollar General Co. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Carman R. Wenkoff sold 5,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 28,579 shares in the company, valued at $4,636,371.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ralph Santana sold 3,009 shares of Dollar General 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,778.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on DG. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dollar General from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Argus boosted their price target on Dollar General from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dollar General in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Dollar General presently 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.