Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Short Interest Update

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

Donegal Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ DGICA opened at $14.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current 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. Donegal Group has a 52 week low of $12.26 and a 52 week high of $17.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.99.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Donegal Group news, Director Barry C. Huber sold 4,500 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total value of $70,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $233,411.90. The trade was a 23.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.29, for a total transaction of $171,045.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at $161,124.39. This trade represents a 51.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 616,809 shares of company stock valued at $10,026,700 and have sold 379,564 shares valued at $6,212,273. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Donegal Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Donegal Group in the fourth quarter worth $128,000. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 22,353 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 902 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 31,091 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $448,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Donegal Group by 39.2% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 17,125 shares during the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.