Donegal Group, Inc. $DGICA Stock Sold by Philadelphia Trust Co.

Philadelphia Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 86,925 shares during the quarter. Philadelphia Trust Co.’s holdings in Donegal Group were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGICA. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 27.8% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 9,214 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 73,820 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,268,000 after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 3.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 96,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 3,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 214.4% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,889 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 4,016 shares during the period. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DGICA shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Donegal Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Zacks Research upgraded Donegal Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.00.

Donegal Group Trading Up 1.3%

Donegal Group stock opened at $18.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12 and a beta of -0.03. Donegal Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.11 and a 52 week high of $21.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The insurance provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. Donegal Group had a net margin of 7.24% and a return on equity of 10.45%. The company had revenue of $237.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.12 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.75 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be issued a $0.1925 dividend. This represents a $0.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 2nd. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is 41.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Miller sold 21,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total value of $403,830.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,176 shares in the company, valued at $522,594.48. This represents a 43.59% 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, insider Kevin Burke sold 24,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.23, for a total transaction of $461,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,720.10. This trade represents a 63.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders bought 242,937 shares of company stock worth $4,626,264 and sold 65,678 shares worth $1,265,951. Insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

About Donegal Group

Donegal Group Inc. is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its subsidiaries. Its offerings include personal lines such as automobile and homeowners insurance, as well as commercial coverage for businesses, including commercial automobile, workers’ compensation and package policies. The company distributes its products primarily through independent insurance agencies. Its operations serve customers in the Mid-Atlantic region and other parts of the eastern, southern and Midwestern United States.