Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Invests $714,000 in Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA)

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. has invested approximately $714,000 in Donegal Group by purchasing 36,396 shares, representing around 0.10% of the company's stock.
• Donegal Group reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.43 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.36.
• The firm has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.1825 per share, with a record date of August 1st, resulting in an annualized yield of 4.21%.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 36,396 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $714,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.10% of Donegal Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Donegal Group by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 429,106 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,638,000 after purchasing an additional 97,795 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Donegal Group by 351.3% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 107,951 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 84,029 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 170.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 103,296 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,598,000 after acquiring an additional 65,146 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $704,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Donegal Group by 47.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Donegal Group

In other Donegal Group news, CFO Jeffrey Dean Miller sold 24,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.83, for a total value of $475,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 23,980 shares in the company, valued at $475,523.40. The trade was a 50.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 71,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the insider 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 163,724 shares of company stock worth $3,269,040. Company insiders own 3.48% of the company's stock.

Donegal Group Trading Down 0.1%

Donegal Group stock opened at $17.36 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $19.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.03. Donegal Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.35 and a 52 week high of $21.12. The stock has a market cap of $626.70 million, a PE ratio of 7.29 and a beta of 0.01. 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 (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 14.70%. Equities research analysts predict that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGICA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Donegal Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

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.

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