Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday.

Donegal Group Stock Down 7.3 %

Donegal Group stock opened at $14.10 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $470.84 million, a P/E ratio of 88.13 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. Donegal Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $15.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.79.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $246.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $243.00 million. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 0.89% and a net margin of 0.76%. Equities research analysts expect that Donegal Group will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a $0.172 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.88%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 431.25%.

Insider Transactions at Donegal Group

In related news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 9,024 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.96 per share, for a total transaction of $134,999.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,104,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,077,545.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 9,024 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.96 per share, for a total transaction of $134,999.04. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,104,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,077,545.44. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $457,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,738.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 139,437 shares of company stock worth $2,062,143. Company insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGICA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,825,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,541,000 after acquiring an additional 53,632 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Donegal Group in the first quarter valued at $293,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Donegal Group by 125.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 5,757 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 111,216 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,573,000 after buying an additional 8,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,183,005 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,728,000 after buying an additional 304,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.96% of the company’s stock.

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.