Insider Buying: Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases 7,587 Shares of Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 7,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.62 per share, with a total value of $148,856.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,768,361 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $270,135,242.82. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% 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 Tuesday, November 18th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 7,104 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.84 per share, for a total transaction of $140,943.36.
• On Monday, November 17th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.91 per share, with a total value of $159,280.00.
• On Friday, November 14th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.92 per share, with a total value of $159,360.00.
• On Thursday, November 13th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 29,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.53 per share, with a total value of $566,370.00.
• On Wednesday, November 12th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 6,794 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.74 per share, with a total value of $134,113.56.
• On Tuesday, November 11th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 7,297 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.66 per share, with a total value of $143,459.02.
• On Monday, November 10th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.36 per share, with a total value of $154,880.00.
• On Thursday, November 6th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.13 per share, with a total value of $153,040.00.
• On Tuesday, November 4th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.71 per share, with a total value of $149,680.00.
• On Friday, September 12th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 20,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.53 per share, for a total transaction of $390,600.00.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DGICA traded down $0.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $19.51. The stock had a trading volume of 28,511 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,015. The stock has a market cap of $714.89 million, a PE ratio of 8.20 and a beta of 0.01. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $14.17 and a one year high of $21.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $245.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $244.19 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 14.33%. On average, research analysts forecast that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DGICA shares. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Donegal Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Donegal Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,343,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Donegal Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,699,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Donegal Group by 294.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 149,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 111,647 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Donegal Group by 139.8% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 152,432 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after buying an additional 88,878 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Donegal Group by 33.0% in 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 in the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is currently 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.