Short Interest in Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) Expands By 10.1%

Dollar General Co. (NYSE:DG) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,210,000 shares, an increase of 10.1% from the October 31st total of 6,550,000 shares. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Dollar General

In related news, EVP Steven R. Deckard sold 2,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.66, for a total transaction of $174,186.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $250,187.42. This represents a 41.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.40 per share, for a total transaction of $40,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 41,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,298,812. This trade represents 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Dollar General

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 2,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 1,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lummis Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in Dollar General by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lummis Asset Management LP now owns 9,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on DG shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Dollar General from $118.00 to $95.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $103.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group cut their target price on Dollar General from $155.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Dollar General in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Dollar General from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.32.

Dollar General Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Dollar General stock traded up $0.98 on Wednesday, reaching $80.00. The company had a trading volume of 3,042,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,224,656. The firm has a market cap of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.60. Dollar General has a 1 year low of $72.12 and a 1 year high of $168.07.

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.