Weiss Ratings Reiterates "Buy (B)" Rating for Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "Buy (B)" rating for Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA), reflecting positive sentiment among stock analysts.
• Donegal Group recently reported earnings of $0.43 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue of $233.81 million fell short of projected figures.
• Institutional investors have shown confidence in Donegal Group, with Vanguard and Geode Capital among those increasing their stakes in the company.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DGICA. Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of Donegal Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Donegal Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Donegal Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Donegal Group currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Donegal Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ DGICA traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 92,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 140,550. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.85. Donegal Group has a 52 week low of $14.17 and a 52 week high of $21.12. The stock has a market cap of $711.58 million and a PE ratio of 8.19.

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.07. Donegal Group had a net margin of 8.33% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm had revenue of $233.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $247.21 million. Equities research analysts predict that Donegal Group will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Donegal Group

In related news, major shareholder Mutual Insurance Co Donegal acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.84 per share, for a total transaction of $356,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 13,500,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $240,857,429.68. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 212,958 shares of company stock worth $3,965,746 in the last quarter. 6.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 946,432 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $18,578,000 after acquiring an additional 19,174 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 6.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 409,082 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $8,193,000 after acquiring an additional 25,259 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Donegal Group by 33.0% during the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 356,154 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $7,132,000 after acquiring an additional 88,462 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Donegal Group in the second quarter worth approximately $6,343,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Donegal Group by 7.8% in the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 205,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $4,118,000 after buying an additional 14,846 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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