StockNews.com Lowers Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Donegal Group Trading Up 0.2 %

DGICA stock opened at $14.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.86. Donegal Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.26 and a fifty-two week high of $15.45. The firm has a market cap of $481.86 million, a PE ratio of 90.19 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 (NASDAQ:DGICA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Donegal Group had a return on equity of 0.89% and a net margin of 0.76%. The company had revenue of $246.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $243.00 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Donegal Group will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Donegal Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.172 per share. This represents a $0.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 1st. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 431.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 6,005 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.34 per share, with a total value of $92,116.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 12,351,934 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,478,667.56. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal purchased 6,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.34 per share, for a total transaction of $92,116.70. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 12,351,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $189,478,667.56. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 9,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $150,738.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased 139,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,143 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $448,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 7.8% during 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 last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Donegal Group by 95.2% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 40,407 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 19,707 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Donegal Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Donegal Group by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 129,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. 27.96% of the stock is owned by 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.