Insider Selling: Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) CAO Sells $13,742.86 in Stock

Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) CAO David Benjamin Bawel sold 674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.39, for a total value of $13,742.86. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,336 shares in the company, valued at $435,041.04. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Donegal Group Trading Up 0.5%

DGICA stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.47. 3,461 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 129,505. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.51 and a 200-day moving average of $18.93. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.17 and a 1 year high of $21.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $749.87 million, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.04.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $245.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $244.19 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 14.28% and a net margin of 8.72%. Analysts predict that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.17%.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 17,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 5.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,578 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 8.9% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 12,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 21.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,293 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 1,130 shares during the period. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 4.2% during the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 28,509 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on DGICA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Donegal Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Donegal Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Donegal Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

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.