Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 191,900 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 224,800 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 92,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In other Donegal Group news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total value of $171,045.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,124.39. This trade represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 150,432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.49 per share, for a total transaction of $2,330,191.68. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 12,502,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $193,661,649.34. This trade represents a 1.22 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 616,809 shares of company stock valued at $10,026,700 and sold 379,564 shares valued at $6,212,273. 5.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGICA. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 82.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 105,257 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 47,447 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the second quarter valued at about $448,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 38.7% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 18,132 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 39.2% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 60,767 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 17,125 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. 27.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Donegal Group Price Performance

Shares of Donegal Group stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $14.59. 119,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 77,786. Donegal Group has a 12-month low of $12.26 and a 12-month high of $17.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The company has a market cap of $494.60 million, a P/E ratio of 19.20 and a beta of -0.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.97.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.1725 per share. This is an increase from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.79%.

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.