Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Raised 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 research note published on Thursday morning.

Donegal Group Trading Down 7.3 %

NASDAQ:DGICA opened at $14.10 on Thursday. Donegal Group has a 12 month low of $12.26 and a 12 month high of $15.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $14.65 and its 200-day moving average is $13.79. The firm has a market cap of $470.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.13 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Donegal Group had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 0.89%. The business had revenue of $246.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.00 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Donegal Group will post 0.45 EPS for the current year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.172 per share. 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 payout ratio is 431.25%.

Insider Activity

In other Donegal Group news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,738.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Donegal Group news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total value of $457,200.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at $150,738.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 9,024 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 12,104,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $181,077,545.44. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 139,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,143. 6.63% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGICA. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Donegal Group by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,364 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $147,000 after buying an additional 5,757 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Donegal Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Finally, 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 purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.