Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 5,205 Shares of Dollar General Corporation $DG

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG) by 19.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,727 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,205 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Dollar General were worth $3,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Dollar General by 32.9% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 245,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,591,000 after buying an additional 60,746 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Dollar General by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,707,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,857,000 after acquiring an additional 42,936 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Dollar General in the fourth quarter valued at $133,431,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Dollar General by 63.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 60,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,230,000 after acquiring an additional 23,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Dollar General during the fourth quarter worth $11,864,000. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Dollar General Price Performance

Shares of DG stock opened at $122.20 on Friday. Dollar General Corporation has a 52 week low of $95.11 and a 52 week high of $158.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $118.92 and its 200-day moving average is $124.81.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 2nd. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $10.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.81 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 3.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. Dollar General has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.200-7.450 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Dollar General Corporation will post 7.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dollar General Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 7th. Dollar General’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Dollar General from $141.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Dollar General from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Dollar General in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.42.

Dollar General Profile

Dollar General Corporation is a U.S.-based variety and discount retailer operating a large network of small-format stores that serve primarily rural and suburban communities. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker DG and is headquartered in the Nashville/Goodlettsville, Tennessee area. Founded in 1939, Dollar General has grown from a regional operation into one of the nation’s prominent low-price retailers focused on convenience and value.

Dollar General’s stores offer a wide assortment of everyday consumables and household goods, including food and beverage items, cleaning supplies, health and beauty products, paper goods, apparel basics, seasonal merchandise and small household items.