Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:DGICA opened at $14.40 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $480.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.00 and a beta of -0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.85.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) last posted its 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 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Donegal Group will post 0.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the company’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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Vincent Anthony Viozzi sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total value of $457,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 9,891 shares in the company, valued at $150,738.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 6,005 shares of the business’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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 12,351,934 shares in the company, valued at approximately $189,478,667.56. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 139,437 shares of company stock valued at $2,062,143. 6.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGICA. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Donegal Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Donegal Group in the first quarter worth $137,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Donegal Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Donegal Group by 7.8% during the second 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. 27.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Donegal Group

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.