Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $17.50 and last traded at $16.51, with a volume of 273 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.62.

Donegal Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $566.40 million, a PE ratio of 10.99 and a beta of -0.02.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.39. Donegal Group had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $249.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.61 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.1725 dividend. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. This is a positive change from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.39%.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In other news, Director Barry C. Huber sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.60, for a total transaction of $41,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,867 shares in the company, valued at $246,792.20. This trade represents a 14.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP William Daniel Delamater sold 9,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.77, for a total transaction of $161,260.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,379 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,125.83. This represents a 87.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 382,722 shares of company stock worth $6,366,086 and sold 285,298 shares worth $4,736,884. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGICA. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 235,746 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,647,000 after purchasing an additional 130,489 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 429,106 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,638,000 after buying an additional 97,795 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position 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 buying an additional 84,029 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 170.8% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 103,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,598,000 after buying an additional 65,146 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Donegal Group by 137.8% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 104,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 60,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

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.