Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $16.66 and last traded at $16.66, with a volume of 57856 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Donegal Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Donegal Group Trading Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $564.10 million, a P/E ratio of 21.90 and a beta of -0.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $0.172 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.79%.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In related news, VP Sanjay Pandey sold 3,766 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total transaction of $62,139.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,871 shares in the company, valued at $113,371.50. The trade was a 35.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 150,432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.49 per share, for a total transaction of $2,330,191.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,502,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,661,649.34. This represents a 1.22 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 260,188 shares of company stock worth $4,047,445 and have sold 124,266 shares worth $1,932,589. Corporate insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in Donegal Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 22,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Donegal Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Donegal Group by 7.8% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 244,600 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 364,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Company Profile

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.