Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Donegal Group Price Performance

DGICA opened at $14.10 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.79. 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 has a twelve month low of $12.26 and a twelve month high of $15.45. The company has a market capitalization of $470.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.13 and a beta of -0.05.

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

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 1st were given 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 dividend yield of 4.88%. Donegal Group’s payout ratio is currently 431.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of Donegal Group stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $457,200.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $150,738.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Donegal Group news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.75 per share, for a total transaction of $147,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,195,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,887,238.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $457,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,738.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 139,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,143. Company insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGICA. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Donegal Group in the second quarter valued at $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the first quarter worth $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,757 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Donegal Group in the 1st quarter worth about $293,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings 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 worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the period. 27.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.