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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

Shares of DGICA stock opened at $13.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $13.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.14. The firm has a market cap of $445.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.44 and a beta of -0.07. Donegal Group has a 1 year low of $13.10 and a 1 year high of $15.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The insurance provider reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.34). Donegal Group had a return on equity of 0.15% and a net margin of 0.55%. The business had revenue of $239.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.09 EPS. Analysts predict that Donegal Group will post 0.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Donegal Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.172 per share. This is an increase from Donegal Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $0.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Donegal Group’s dividend payout ratio is 431.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Donegal Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Donegal Group by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,825,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $25,541,000 after purchasing 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 about $293,000. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Donegal Group by 62.6% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 53,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $759,000 after purchasing an additional 20,499 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Donegal Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $194,000. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Donegal Group by 16.4% in the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 81,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 11,473 shares during the period. 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.