Insider Buying: Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases 19,212 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Mutual Insurance Co Donegal, a major shareholder, recently acquired 19,212 shares of Donegal Group stock at an average cost of $19.22 per share, increasing their holdings to approximately $260.6 million.
• Donegal Group reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.36, while total revenue for the quarter was $233.81 million.
• Donegal Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 per share, translating to a 3.8% dividend yield at an annualized rate of $0.73.

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 19,212 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.22 per share, with a total value of $369,254.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,559,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $260,616,069.38. The trade was a 0.14% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Mutual Insurance Co Donegal also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, September 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 16,573 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.45 per share, with a total value of $322,344.85.
• On Wednesday, September 10th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 20,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.99 per share, with a total value of $379,800.00.
• On Tuesday, September 9th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 19,352 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.24 per share, with a total value of $372,332.48.
• On Monday, September 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 19,025 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.10 per share, with a total value of $363,377.50.
• On Wednesday, September 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 20,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.37 per share, with a total value of $367,400.00.
• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 19,440 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.27 per share, with a total value of $355,168.80.
• On Friday, August 29th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 20,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.84 per share, with a total value of $356,800.00.
• On Thursday, August 28th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,032 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.61 per share, with a total value of $141,443.52.
• On Tuesday, August 26th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 15,815 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.45 per share, with a total value of $275,971.75.
• On Wednesday, August 27th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 15,509 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.49 per share, with a total value of $271,252.41.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ DGICA traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $19.48. The stock had a trading volume of 128,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,342. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $14.06 and a one year high of $21.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $711.20 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18. The company's 50-day moving average is $17.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.68.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07. Donegal Group had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm had revenue of $233.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $247.21 million. On average, analysts expect that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is 30.67%.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 477.2% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,961 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 422.6% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 443.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,928 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 4,022 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 78.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,163 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Donegal Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $101,000. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DGICA shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donegal Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.00.

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.