Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.17 Per Share

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.172 per share by the insurance provider on Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17.

Donegal Group has raised its dividend by an average of 4.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Donegal Group has a dividend payout ratio of 60.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Donegal Group to earn $0.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 85.0%.

Donegal Group Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ DGICA opened at $14.02 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $13.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.17. Donegal Group has a 52-week low of $13.10 and a 52-week high of $15.76. The firm has a market cap of $468.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 100.14 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.34). Donegal Group had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 0.40%. The company had revenue of $239.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Donegal Group will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donegal Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 58.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 1,924 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Donegal Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 23,994 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Donegal Group by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Donegal Group by 6.0% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 17,047 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Donegal Group by 7.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,182 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the period. 27.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Donegal Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd.

Donegal Group Company Profile

Donegal Group Inc, an insurance holding company, provides property and casualty insurance to businesses and individuals. It operates through three segments: Investment Function, Personal Lines of Insurance, and Commercial Lines of Insurance. The company offers private passenger automobile policies that provide protection against liability for bodily injury and property damage arising from automobile accidents, as well as protection against loss from damage to automobiles; and homeowners policies, which provide coverage for damage to residences and their contents from a range of perils, including fire, lightning, windstorm, and theft, as well as liability of the insured arising from injury to other persons or their property.