Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal Acquires 8,500 Shares

Key Points

• Major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co. Donegal bought 8,500 shares of Donegal Group at $17.43 each on May 20, bringing its total holdings to 14.04 million shares. The filing shows a continued pattern of insider accumulation over several recent trading days.
• Donegal Group reported first-quarter earnings of $0.32 per share, missing analyst expectations of $0.40, and revenue of $236.0 million versus the $247.83 million forecast. Despite the miss, the company remains profitable with a 10.31% return on equity.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.1925 per share from $0.18, implying an annualized payout of $0.77 and a 4.4% yield. Analysts currently rate DGICA a Hold on average, with a consensus target price of $18.00.

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.43 per share, with a total value of $148,155.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 14,039,109 shares of the company's stock, valued at $244,701,669.87. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major 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 Tuesday, May 19th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,328 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $145,573.44.
• On Monday, May 18th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.33 per share, with a total value of $147,305.00.
• On Friday, May 15th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.16 per share, with a total value of $145,860.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.86 per share, with a total value of $143,310.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.18 per share, with a total value of $146,030.00.
• On Friday, May 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,077 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.13 per share, with a total value of $138,359.01.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.06 per share, with a total value of $145,010.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 purchased at an average price of $17.63 per share, with a total value of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Price Performance

Shares of Donegal Group stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $17.44. The stock had a trading volume of 78,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 119,895. The stock's 50 day moving average is $17.20 and its 200 day moving average is $18.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $646.15 million, a PE ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.01. Donegal Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.11 and a twelve month high of $21.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $236.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.83 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 6.77%. Equities analysts expect that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1925 per share. This is an increase from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DGICA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Donegal Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 579.4% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 169,853 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 144,853 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 117.3% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 236,124 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,718,000 after purchasing an additional 127,470 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 139.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 152,432 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 88,878 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 41.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 276,237 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,746,000 after purchasing an additional 80,614 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 131,574 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 80,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Donegal Group Company Profile

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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