Donegal Group, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.18 (NASDAQ:DGICA)

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of 0.1825 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%.

Donegal Group has a dividend payout ratio of 36.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Donegal Group to earn $1.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.73 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.1%.

Donegal Group Trading Down 0.3%

DGICA stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $18.28. 96,381 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 101,541. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.92. Donegal Group has a 1-year low of $13.35 and a 1-year high of $21.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $659.91 million, a PE ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $245.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.73 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 7.06% and a return on equity of 12.82%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Donegal Group will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Donegal Group news, EVP William Daniel Delamater sold 8,696 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.78, for a total transaction of $172,006.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 1,495 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $29,571.10. The trade was a 85.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William Albert Folmar sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.67, for a total transaction of $372,060.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,636.50. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,724 shares of company stock worth $3,269,040 in the last quarter. 3.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 139.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Donegal Group by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 109,791 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Donegal Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,802,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the first quarter worth approximately $689,000. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DGICA. Wall Street Zen raised Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

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.