Donegal Group (DGICA) Competitors

Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) and Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, media sentiment, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and risk.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of HTH or DGICA?

57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 28.0% of Donegal Group shares are held by institutional investors. 29.9% of Hilltop shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Donegal Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer HTH or DGICA?

In the previous week, Donegal Group had 12 more articles in the media than Hilltop. MarketBeat recorded 16 mentions for Donegal Group and 4 mentions for Hilltop. Donegal Group's average media sentiment score of 1.76 beat Hilltop's score of 1.62 indicating that Donegal Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hilltop	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Donegal Group	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts rate HTH or DGICA?

Hilltop currently has a consensus target price of $32.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.77%. Donegal Group has a consensus target price of $18.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.60%. Given Donegal Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Donegal Group is more favorable than Hilltop.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hilltop	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Donegal Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is HTH or DGICA more profitable?

Hilltop has a net margin of 8.90% compared to Donegal Group's net margin of 8.33%. Donegal Group's return on equity of 14.33% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hilltop	8.90%	6.46%	0.91%
Donegal Group	8.33%	14.33%	3.41%

Is HTH or DGICA a better dividend stock?

Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Donegal Group pays an annual dividend of $0.73 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Hilltop pays out 32.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Donegal Group pays out 30.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hilltop has increased its dividend for 8 consecutive years and Donegal Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Donegal Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better earnings and valuation, HTH or DGICA?

Hilltop has higher revenue and earnings than Donegal Group. Donegal Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hilltop, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hilltop	$1.61B	1.36	$113.21M	$2.23	15.56
Donegal Group	$993.64M	0.72	$50.86M	$2.38	8.18

Summary

Donegal Group beats Hilltop on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.