Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) by 124.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 235,746 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 130,489 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Donegal Group were worth $3,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter valued at $128,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $177,000. Inceptionr LLC bought a new stake in Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $244,000. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its position in shares of Donegal Group by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 22,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In related news, EVP William Daniel Delamater sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.77, for a total transaction of $213,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,495 shares in the company, valued at $26,566.15. This trade represents a 88.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.14 per share, with a total value of $145,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,334,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,885,689.48. This trade represents a 0.06 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 105,908 shares of company stock worth $1,865,086 and sold 47,119 shares worth $845,651. Insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

DGICA stock opened at $18.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $628.77 million, a P/E ratio of 12.20 and a beta of -0.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Donegal Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $18.55.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.61 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 3.72%. This is a boost 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 presently 45.39%.

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.