Insider Buying: Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases $140,250.00 in Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $16.50 per share, for a total transaction of $140,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 13,946,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,112,366. This trade represents a 0.06% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own at least 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, March 3rd, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,000 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.63 per share, for a total transaction of $158,670.00.

Donegal Group Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ DGICA opened at $17.21 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $636.77 million, a PE ratio of 9.61 and a beta of 0.01. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $16.11 and a one year high of $21.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.64.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $236.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $247.83 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 10.41%. Analysts expect that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be paid a $0.1925 dividend. This is a boost from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the third quarter worth about $799,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,160 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 3,301 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $507,000. TrueMark Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $291,000. Finally, IAG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Donegal Group during the third quarter worth about $192,000. 27.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on DGICA. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Donegal Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donegal Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.