Mutual Insurance Co Donegal Acquires 8,500 Shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Stock

Key Points

• Mutual Insurance Co Donegal, the major shareholder in Donegal Group, bought 8,500 more shares on May 18 at an average price of $17.33, bringing its stake to more than 14 million shares.
• Donegal Group recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.1925 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 4.4% and up from the prior $0.18 payout.
• The company’s latest earnings missed analyst estimates, with Q1 EPS of $0.32 versus the expected $0.40, while Wall Street currently has a consensus Hold rating and $18.00 price target on the stock.

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.33 per share, for a total transaction of $147,305.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 14,022,281 shares in the company, valued at $243,006,129.73. This represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Mutual Insurance Co Donegal also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, May 15th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.16 per share, for a total transaction of $145,860.00.
• On Wednesday, May 13th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.86 per share, for a total transaction of $143,310.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.18 per share, for a total transaction of $146,030.00.
• On Friday, May 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,077 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.13 per share, for a total transaction of $138,359.01.
• On Thursday, May 7th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.06 per share, for a total transaction of $145,010.00.
• On Tuesday, May 5th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $16.50 per share, for a total transaction of $140,250.00.
• On Tuesday, March 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.63 per share, for a total transaction of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Price Performance

Donegal Group stock traded up $0.24 on Tuesday, reaching $17.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 119,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $651.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.83 and a beta of 0.01. The business's fifty day moving average price is $17.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.54. Donegal Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.11 and a twelve month high of $21.12.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $236.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.83 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 6.77%. Equities analysts expect that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were issued a $0.1925 dividend. This represents a $0.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. This is an increase from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGICA. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 139.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 39,413 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $774,000 after purchasing an additional 22,978 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Donegal Group by 7.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 109,791 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,155,000 after purchasing an additional 8,004 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 1.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Donegal Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $689,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 22.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,824 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 5,981 shares during the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGICA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings cut Donegal Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donegal Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $18.00.

About Donegal Group

Donegal Group, Inc NASDAQ: DGICA is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Marietta, Pennsylvania. Through a network of independent agencies, the company offers a suite of personal and commercial insurance products. Its underwriting subsidiaries provide homeowners, automobile, farmowner, commercial multi-peril, surety and umbrella coverages designed to meet the needs of individuals, families and businesses.

The company's origins date back to 1925 with the formation of Donegal Mutual Insurance Company to serve rural communities in Pennsylvania.

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