Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $15.89, but opened at $15.00. Donegal Group shares last traded at $15.15, with a volume of 66,736 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised 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

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.13. The company has a market cap of $528.65 million, a P/E ratio of 21.01 and a beta of -0.06. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $0.172 per share. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.79%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sanjay Pandey sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.50, for a total transaction of $542,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,871 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,500.50. The trade was a 83.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.75 per share, with a total value of $147,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,195,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,887,238.75. The trade was a 0.08 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 266,464 shares of company stock valued at $4,097,079 and have sold 120,500 shares valued at $1,870,450. 6.63% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGICA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 34.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,183,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $16,728,000 after buying an additional 304,477 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the first quarter worth $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 125.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 5,757 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Donegal Group by 95.2% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 40,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 19,707 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Donegal Group by 4.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 129,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.