Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA) Position Increased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Donegal Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DGICA - Free Report) by 29.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 429,106 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 97,795 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 1.27% of Donegal Group worth $6,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DGICA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 364,313 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,371,000 after purchasing an additional 4,933 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 124.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 235,746 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,647,000 after acquiring an additional 130,489 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Donegal Group by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 223,593 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Donegal Group by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 122,417 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Donegal Group by 351.3% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 107,951 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 84,029 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.96% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.14 per share, for a total transaction of $145,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 13,334,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $241,885,689.48. This trade represents a 0.06 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 10,500 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.95, for a total value of $188,475.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,316 shares in the company, valued at approximately $167,222.20. The trade was a 52.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 105,908 shares of company stock valued at $1,865,086 and have sold 47,119 shares valued at $845,651. 6.63% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Donegal Group from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Donegal Group Price Performance

Donegal Group stock traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.71. 63,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 78,593. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $17.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.24. Donegal Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $12.26 and a 1 year high of $20.37. The company has a market capitalization of $702.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.38. Donegal Group had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 9.50%. On average, analysts anticipate that Donegal Group Inc. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 1st will be given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This is a positive change from Donegal Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Donegal Group's dividend payout ratio is 48.03%.

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.