Acadian Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Donegal Group, Inc. $DGICA

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 40.9% during Q1, now owning 158,823 shares worth approximately $3.1 million.
• Donegal Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 per share, resulting in an annual dividend yield of 3.8%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Donegal Group, with one upgrade to a strong-buy rating and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Free Report) by 40.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 158,823 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 46,095 shares during the quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC owned 0.44% of Donegal Group worth $3,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGICA. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Donegal Group by 170.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Informed Momentum Co LLC acquired a new position in Donegal Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,039,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth $704,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Donegal Group by 87.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Donegal Group in the first quarter valued at $797,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Donegal Group Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of DGICA stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, hitting $19.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 476,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,986. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $18.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. Donegal Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $14.06 and a fifty-two week high of $21.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $705.74 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12.

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

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Donegal Group's payout ratio is 30.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DGICA. Wall Street Zen lowered Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Donegal Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Donegal Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 20,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.84 per share, for a total transaction of $356,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,500,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $240,857,429.68. This represents a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have bought 212,958 shares of company stock valued at $3,965,746 in the last quarter. 6.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Donegal Group 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.