Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Buys $146,030.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,500 shares of Donegal Group at $17.18 per share, spending $146,030 and increasing its stake slightly to nearly 14.0 million shares.
• Donegal Group recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1925 per share from $0.18, implying an annualized yield of about 4.6%.
• The company missed first-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $0.32 versus $0.40 expected and revenue of $236 million versus $247.83 million anticipated; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.18 per share, with a total value of $146,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,979,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,172,637.58. The trade was a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more 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 Friday, May 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,077 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.13 per share, for a total transaction of $138,359.01.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.06 per share, with a total value of $145,010.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.50 per share, with a total value of $140,250.00.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.63 per share, for a total transaction of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Stock Down 1.3%

DGICA opened at $16.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $626.04 million, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.01. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $17.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.59. Donegal Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.11 and a 52 week high of $21.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). Donegal Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The firm had revenue of $236.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $247.83 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.1925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. This is a positive change from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Donegal Group's payout ratio is currently 43.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGICA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,737,266 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $29,846,000 after acquiring an additional 7,345 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,008,217 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $19,549,000 after purchasing an additional 39,181 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Donegal Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 534,703 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $10,685,000 after purchasing an additional 11,891 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 391,729 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 371,211 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $7,417,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on DGICA shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Donegal Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Donegal Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.00.

About Donegal Group

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.

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