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

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 paid a dividend of 0.1825 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%.

Donegal Group has a payout ratio of 36.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research 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 Price Performance

Donegal Group stock remained flat at $18.50 during trading hours on Thursday. The company's stock had a trading volume of 102,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 100,959. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $667.85 million, a PE ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 0.01. Donegal Group has a twelve month low of $13.35 and a twelve month high of $21.12.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $245.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $248.73 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 12.82% and a net margin of 7.06%. Research analysts forecast that Donegal Group will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGICA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Sunday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donegal Group

In related news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 71,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.83 per share, with a total value of $1,407,930.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 13,441,621 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $266,547,344.43. This represents a 0.53% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin Gerard Burke sold 27,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.83, for a total transaction of $535,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,672 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $231,455.76. The trade was a 69.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 163,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,269,040. 6.63% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in Donegal Group in the first quarter valued at about $689,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 139.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 22,978 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 1.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 1,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Donegal Group by 7.9% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

About Donegal Group

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.

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