Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Shares Purchased by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 223,593 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.66% of Donegal Group worth $3,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Donegal Group by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 44,492 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Donegal Group by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 26,006 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 3,775 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Donegal Group during the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Donegal Group by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 364,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Donegal Group by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 122,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,967 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In other news, VP Sanjay Pandey sold 5,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $106,529.15. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,156.49. This trade represents a 44.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP David Wayne Sponic sold 5,537 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.17, for a total transaction of $100,607.29. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,449.02. This trade represents a 73.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 105,908 shares of company stock worth $1,865,086 and sold 47,119 shares worth $845,651. Insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

Shares of DGICA stock opened at $18.64 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $664.31 million, a P/E ratio of 12.26 and a beta of -0.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Donegal Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $19.87.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The insurance provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.39. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.14%. The business had revenue of $249.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $250.61 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.92%. This is a boost from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Donegal Group from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th.

Donegal Group Profile

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.