Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Short Interest Update

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 321,300 shares, a growth of 25.6% from the April 30th total of 255,900 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 125,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Donegal Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:DGICA traded up $0.08 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.57. 104,625 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 88,731. The firm has a market capitalization of $706.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88 and a beta of -0.05. Donegal Group has a 52-week low of $12.26 and a 52-week high of $21.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.34 and its 200-day moving average is $17.25.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share 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 net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, analysts forecast that Donegal Group will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This is a positive change from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO David Benjamin Bawel sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.83, for a total transaction of $178,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,417 shares in the company, valued at $404,869.11. The trade was a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP William Albert Folmar sold 4,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.82, for a total value of $84,710.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,829. The trade was a 81.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 156,447 shares of company stock worth $2,989,216 and have sold 191,693 shares worth $3,772,777. Company insiders own 6.63% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,804,968 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $27,923,000 after purchasing an additional 27,213 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Donegal Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 946,432 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $18,578,000 after purchasing an additional 19,174 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Donegal Group by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 429,106 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,638,000 after buying an additional 97,795 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Donegal Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 267,692 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,255,000 after buying an additional 31,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 223,593 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.