Royce & Associates LP Has $3.39 Million Stock Holdings in Donegal Group, Inc. $DGICA

Royce & Associates LP increased its position in shares of Donegal Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) by 579.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 169,853 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,853 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Donegal Group were worth $3,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 28,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 12,215 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 132,848 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 42,361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 91,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGICA has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Donegal Group from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Donegal Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Donegal Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Donegal Group

In other Donegal Group news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.63 per share, with a total value of $158,670.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 13,937,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,721,721.52. The trade was a 0.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP William Daniel Delamater sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.63, for a total transaction of $158,670.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,471.56. The trade was a 81.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 110,405 shares of company stock valued at $1,898,057 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.75% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:DGICA opened at $16.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $628.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.44. Donegal Group, Inc. has a one year low of $16.11 and a one year high of $21.06.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $236.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $247.83 million. Donegal Group had a net margin of 6.77% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Research analysts predict that Donegal Group, Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.1925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.77 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Donegal Group’s payout ratio is 43.02%.

About Donegal Group

Donegal Group, Inc (NASDAQ: DGICA) is a property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Marietta, Pennsylvania. Through a network of independent agencies, the company offers a suite of personal and commercial insurance products. Its underwriting subsidiaries provide homeowners, automobile, farmowner, commercial multi-peril, surety and umbrella coverages designed to meet the needs of individuals, families and businesses.

The company’s origins date back to 1925 with the formation of Donegal Mutual Insurance Company to serve rural communities in Pennsylvania.