Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Short Interest Update

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 218,400 shares, a decline of 12.3% from the January 31st total of 249,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 103,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Kristi Spencer Altshuler sold 3,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $52,602.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 4,289 shares in the company, valued at $70,768.50. This represents a 42.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.61 per share, for a total transaction of $1,162,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,116,126 shares in the company, valued at $217,858,852.86. The trade was a 0.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 128,246 shares of company stock worth $2,149,345 and have sold 52,038 shares worth $865,047. 5.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Donegal Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $68,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Donegal Group in the 4th quarter valued at $128,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Donegal Group by 117.2% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,420 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter worth about $162,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $177,000. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Stock Up 0.3 %

DGICA opened at $17.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $15.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $609.79 million, a P/E ratio of 11.84 and a beta of -0.05. Donegal Group has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $18.19.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Donegal Group will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.1725 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This is a boost from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.84%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.