Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $14.54, but opened at $15.29. Donegal Group shares last traded at $15.21, with a volume of 4,250 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Donegal Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Donegal Group Stock Up 4.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $505.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.00 and a beta of -0.06.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Donegal Group had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 0.89%. The company had revenue of $246.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.00 million. Equities analysts expect that Donegal Group Inc. will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.172 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Donegal Group’s payout ratio is 431.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donegal Group

In other news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total value of $457,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,738.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Donegal Group news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 6,005 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.34 per share, with a total value of $92,116.70. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,351,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $189,478,667.56. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $457,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at $150,738.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired 139,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,143 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,183,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,728,000 after purchasing an additional 304,477 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group during the first quarter worth $137,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Donegal Group by 8.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 111,216 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,573,000 after acquiring an additional 8,400 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Donegal Group by 125.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 5,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Donegal Group during the first quarter worth $293,000. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.