Insider Buying: Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Major Shareholder Purchases $120,838.50 in Stock

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,951 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.50 per share, for a total transaction of $120,838.50. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 12,123,065 shares in the company, valued at $163,661,377.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Major 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 Wednesday, August 7th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 6,933 shares of Donegal Group stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.13 per share, for a total transaction of $97,963.29.
• On Tuesday, July 30th, Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,024 shares of Donegal Group stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.96 per share, with a total value of $134,999.04.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

DGICA traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $14.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,254. The company’s 50-day moving average is $13.41 and its 200-day moving average is $13.70. Donegal Group Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $15.30. The firm has a market cap of $475.18 million, a PE ratio of 88.94 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $246.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.00 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 0.90%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donegal Group Inc. will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.172 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 1st. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 431.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donegal Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $124,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 170.9% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,796 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,825,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,541,000 after purchasing an additional 53,632 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 125.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 5,757 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

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.