Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases $554,680.00 in Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.81 per share, for a total transaction of $554,680.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 13,890,885 shares in the company, valued at $275,178,431.85. This trade represents a 0.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

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

• On Wednesday, December 10th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 22,819 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.05 per share, with a total value of $457,520.95.
• On Monday, December 8th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 27,524 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.53 per share, for a total transaction of $537,543.72.
• On Monday, December 1st, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 15,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.20 per share, for a total transaction of $303,000.00.
• On Wednesday, November 26th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 5,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.25 per share, with a total value of $101,250.00.
• On Tuesday, November 25th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.18 per share, for a total transaction of $161,440.00.
• On Friday, November 21st, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 51,404 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.86 per share, with a total value of $918,075.44.
• On Thursday, November 20th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.49 per share, with a total value of $155,920.00.
• On Wednesday, November 19th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 7,587 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.62 per share, for a total transaction of $148,856.94.
• On Tuesday, November 18th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 7,104 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $140,943.36.
• On Monday, November 17th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.91 per share, with a total value of $159,280.00.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DGICA opened at $20.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $745.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.04. Donegal Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.17 and a 1 year high of $21.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.15. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 8.72%.The firm had revenue of $245.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.19 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on DGICA shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Zacks Research raised Donegal Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Donegal Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donegal Group presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGICA. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,008,217 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,549,000 after buying an additional 39,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 409,082 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,193,000 after acquiring an additional 25,259 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 356,154 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,132,000 after acquiring an additional 88,462 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Donegal Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 332,503 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,447,000 after acquiring an additional 15,765 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Donegal Group by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 208,922 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,051,000 after acquiring an additional 17,546 shares during the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.