D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Takes Position in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 45,478 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $704,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Donegal Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGICA. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter valued at $128,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Donegal Group by 117.2% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,420 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $162,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth $177,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donegal Group

In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 15,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.85 per share, with a total value of $267,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 13,219,273 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,964,023.05. This trade represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.95, for a total value of $188,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,316 shares in the company, valued at $167,222.20. This represents a 52.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 186,447 shares of company stock valued at $3,526,666 and have sold 210,843 shares valued at $4,114,692. Insiders own 6.63% of the company's stock.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ DGICA traded up $0.16 on Thursday, reaching $20.17. 76,343 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 87,610. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.11. The firm has a market cap of $728.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.27 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. Donegal Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $21.12.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $245.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.73 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 9.50%. Equities research analysts predict that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a 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.