21,593 Shares in Donegal Group, Inc. $DGICA Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has acquired 21,593 shares of Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA), valued at approximately $424,000, representing 0.06% of the company's stock.
• In the last quarter, major shareholders, including Millennium Management LLC and Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc., have significantly increased their stakes in Donegal Group.
• Donegal Group's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.43, exceeding estimates, while the company's dividend yield stands at 3.7% after the recent quarterly dividend announcement.

Ascent Group LLC bought a new stake in Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 21,593 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $424,000. Ascent Group LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Donegal Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Donegal Group by 170.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 103,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 65,146 shares during the period. Informed Momentum Co LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,039,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter worth $704,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Donegal Group by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 131,770 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 42,251 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 87.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 89,437 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 41,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.53 per share, for a total transaction of $390,600.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 13,654,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at $266,673,927.87. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 212,958 shares of company stock valued at $3,965,746 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.48% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGICA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Donegal Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Donegal Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $18.00.

Donegal Group Price Performance

NASDAQ DGICA traded up $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $19.15. 14,473 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 131,657. The company has a market cap of $699.17 million and a PE ratio of 8.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Donegal Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.12. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $17.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.71.

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

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.67%.

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.