Ameriprise Financial Inc. Invests $356,000 in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 22,989 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $356,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Donegal Group as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Donegal Group in the fourth quarter worth $128,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the fourth quarter worth $162,000. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at $177,000. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at $195,000. Institutional investors own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In related news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 14,608 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.96 per share, for a total transaction of $262,359.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 13,275,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $238,431,248.72. This represents a 0.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kevin Gerard Burke sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.83, for a total value of $535,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,672 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,455.76. This trade represents a 69.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 156,447 shares of company stock valued at $2,989,216 and have sold 191,693 shares valued at $3,772,777. Insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGICA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Donegal Group from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Donegal Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 31st.

Donegal Group Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ:DGICA opened at $19.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current 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 $21.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $703.53 million, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of -0.05.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $245.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $248.73 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 5.14%. Equities research analysts expect that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st were issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 1st. This is a positive change from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.75%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.61%.

Donegal Group Company 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.