Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The insurance provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 8.72%.The business had revenue of $240.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $241.10 million.

Donegal Group Stock Down 4.9%

DGICA stock traded down $0.91 on Thursday, hitting $17.71. 49,061 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,550. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.10. Donegal Group has a 12-month low of $15.05 and a 12-month high of $21.12. The stock has a market cap of $648.71 million, a P/E ratio of 7.34 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 3rd. Donegal Group’s payout ratio is 30.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Donegal Group news, Director Kevin Michael Sr Kraft, Sr. sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.02, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,988.72. The trade was a 25.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Kristi Spencer Altshuler sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $243,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 157,747 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,510 and sold 17,174 shares valued at $346,833. Corporate insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Donegal Group by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,008,217 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,549,000 after acquiring an additional 39,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 534,703 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,685,000 after purchasing an additional 11,891 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 391,729 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,827,000 after purchasing an additional 3,290 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Donegal Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 371,211 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,417,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Donegal Group by 117.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 236,124 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,718,000 after buying an additional 127,470 shares during the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Donegal Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Donegal Group from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.00.

Donegal Group Company Profile

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.