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

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.1825 per share by the insurance provider on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st.

Donegal Group has a payout ratio of 36.5% meaning 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 0.9%

Shares of Donegal Group stock traded down $0.16 on Friday, reaching $18.34. The company had a trading volume of 100,406 shares, compared to its average volume of 101,562. The firm has a market cap of $662.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95 and a beta of 0.01. 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 $19.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.90. Donegal Group has a 1 year low of $13.35 and a 1 year high of $21.12.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kevin Gerard Burke sold 27,000 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 value of $535,410.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,672 shares in the company, valued at $231,455.76. The trade was a 69.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 71,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.83 per share, for a total transaction of $1,407,930.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 13,441,621 shares in the company, valued at $266,547,344.43. This represents a 0.53% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 163,724 shares of company stock valued at $3,269,040 in the last ninety days. 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 stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring 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 last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Donegal Group by 139.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the 1st quarter worth $689,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note 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.