Mutual Insurance Co Donegal Acquires 8,500 Shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.86 per share, for a total transaction of $143,310.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 13,996,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,985,727.66. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

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

• On Monday, May 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired 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 acquired 8,077 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 stock was acquired at an average price of $17.06 per share, for a total transaction of $145,010.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.50 per share, for a total transaction of $140,250.00.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.63 per share, for a total transaction of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ DGICA traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $17.21. 30,763 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 119,107. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $16.11 and a one year high of $21.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $636.84 million, a PE ratio of 9.62 and a beta of 0.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). Donegal Group had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 6.77%.The firm had revenue of $236.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.83 million. Analysts expect that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.1925 per share. This represents a $0.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. This is a positive change from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Donegal Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donegal Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 392,711 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,747,000 after acquiring an additional 21,500 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake 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 worth $4,746,000 after buying an additional 80,614 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Donegal Group by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,737,266 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $29,846,000 after buying an additional 7,345 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Donegal Group by 5.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 166,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,862,000 after buying an additional 9,075 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Donegal Group by 44.9% during the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 36,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $631,000 after buying an additional 11,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Company Profile

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.