Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Key Points

• Donegal Group reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43, exceeding expectations by $0.07, while revenue was $233.81 million, falling short of the consensus estimate of $247.21 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.1825, resulting in an annualized dividend of $0.73 and a yield of 4.21%.
• Insider activity included major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchasing 71,000 shares, increasing their ownership of the stock by 0.53%.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The insurance provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.07, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $233.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.21 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 8.33%.

Donegal Group Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:DGICA traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.36. 200,717 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 168,287. Donegal Group has a 12-month low of $13.35 and a 12-month high of $21.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $626.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.29 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $19.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.99.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Insider Activity at Donegal Group

In other Donegal Group news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 71,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 approximately $266,547,344.43. This trade represents a 0.53% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kevin Gerard Burke sold 27,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 approximately $231,455.76. This represents a 69.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,724 shares of company stock worth $3,269,040 over the last 90 days. 6.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $689,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 139.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,802,000 after buying an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 109,791 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,155,000 after buying an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGICA. Wall Street Zen downgraded Donegal Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report 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.

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