Insider Buying: Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases $145,860.00 in Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.16 per share, for a total transaction of $145,860.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 14,013,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,476,481.96. This represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Mutual Insurance Co Donegal also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, May 20th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.43 per share, for a total transaction of $148,155.00.
• On Tuesday, May 19th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,328 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $145,573.44.
• On Monday, May 18th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.33 per share, for a total transaction of $147,305.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.86 per share, for a total transaction of $143,310.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.18 per share, for a total transaction of $146,030.00.
• On Friday, May 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,077 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.13 per share, for a total transaction of $138,359.01.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.06 per share, with a total value of $145,010.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.50 per share, with a total value of $140,250.00.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 9,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.63 per share, with a total value of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Price Performance

NASDAQ DGICA opened at $17.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.22 and a 200 day moving average of $18.51. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $16.11 and a one year high of $21.06. The company has a market capitalization of $650.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $236.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $247.83 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $0.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is an increase from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 579.4% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 169,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 144,853 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Donegal Group by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 236,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,718,000 after buying an additional 127,470 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Donegal Group by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 152,432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 88,878 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 41.2% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 276,237 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,746,000 after buying an additional 80,614 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 131,574 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,635,000 after acquiring an additional 80,395 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DGICA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

About Donegal Group

Donegal Group, Inc (NASDAQ: DGICA) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Marietta, Pennsylvania. Through a network of independent agencies, the company offers a suite of personal and commercial insurance products. Its underwriting subsidiaries provide homeowners, automobile, farmowner, commercial multi-peril, surety and umbrella coverages designed to meet the needs of individuals, families and businesses.

The company’s origins date back to 1925 with the formation of Donegal Mutual Insurance Company to serve rural communities in Pennsylvania.