Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Insider Buying Activity

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The company traded as high as $18.23 and last traded at $18.19, with a volume of 78104 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.71.

Specifically, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 11,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.59 per share, for a total transaction of $204,044.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,314,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $234,199,979.38. The trade was a 0.09 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.83 per share, for a total transaction of $267,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,290,682 shares in the company, valued at $236,972,860.06. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In other Donegal Group news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 14,608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.96 per share, for a total transaction of $262,359.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,275,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $238,431,248.72. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Donegal Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $616.91 million, a P/E ratio of 11.97 and a beta of -0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.50.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $249.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $250.61 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.14%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a dividend of $0.1725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This is a boost from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Donegal Group’s payout ratio is 45.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $128,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Donegal Group by 117.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $162,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth about $177,000. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.