Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP reduced its position in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 231,645 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209,230 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP owned 0.11% of Dollar General worth $19,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dollar General by 453.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 10,238,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $865,903,000 after buying an additional 8,388,735 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Dollar General by 148.6% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,280,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,257,000 after buying an additional 765,206 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 319.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 925,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,324,000 after purchasing an additional 704,639 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dollar General in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,986,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Dollar General by 2,291.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 414,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,836,000 after buying an additional 397,354 shares in the last quarter. 91.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Gordon Haskett raised Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Dollar General from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Dollar General from $154.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered Dollar General from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $168.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Dollar General from $100.00 to $88.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Dollar General has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.00.

Dollar General Price Performance

DG opened at $76.24 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.65. Dollar General Co. has a 52-week low of $72.12 and a 52-week high of $168.07.

Dollar General (NYSE:DG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 29th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $10.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Dollar General had a return on equity of 20.62% and a net margin of 3.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Dollar General Co. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In other news, EVP Roderick J. West sold 2,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.25, for a total transaction of $208,957.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,163 shares in the company, valued at approximately $762,819.75. This represents a 21.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Warren F. Bryant acquired 500 shares of Dollar General stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at $3,298,812. The trade was a 1.23 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.49% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.