Analyzing Donegal Group (DGICB) & Its Peers

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICB) is one of 57 public companies in the “INS – PROP&CASLTY” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Donegal Group to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

1.2% of Donegal Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.0% of shares of all “INS – PROP&CASLTY” companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.6% of Donegal Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 10.8% of shares of all “INS – PROP&CASLTY” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Donegal Group pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Donegal Group pays out 32.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “INS – PROP&CASLTY” companies pay a dividend yield of 0.9% and pay out 6.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Donegal Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Donegal Group and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Donegal Group	8.11%	12.81%	3.29%
Donegal Group Competitors	13.71%	13.29%	4.19%

Volatility & Risk

Donegal Group has a beta of 0.04, indicating that its share price is 96% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Donegal Group’s peers have a beta of 0.76, indicating that their average share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Donegal Group and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Donegal Group	0	1	0	0	2.00
Donegal Group Competitors	592	3362	3563	235	2.44

As a group, “INS – PROP&CASLTY” companies have a potential upside of 7.19%. Given Donegal Group’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Donegal Group has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Donegal Group and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Donegal Group	$978.01 million	$79.34 million	9.20
Donegal Group Competitors	$25.02 billion	$4.08 billion	9.07

Donegal Group’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Donegal Group. Donegal Group is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Donegal Group peers beat Donegal Group on 13 of the 15 factors compared.

About Donegal Group

Donegal Group Inc., an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial lines of property and casualty insurance to businesses and individuals in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwestern, New England, and southern states. It operates through four 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. It also offers homeowners policies, which provide coverage for damage to residences and their contents from a range of perils, including fire, lightning, windstorm, and theft; and liability of the insured arising from injury to other persons or their property. In addition, the company offers commercial automobile policies that provide protection against liability for bodily injury and property damage arising from automobile accidents and protection against loss from damage to automobiles owned by the insured; commercial multi-peril policies that provide protection to businesses against various perils, primarily combining liability and physical damage coverages; and workers' compensation policies, which provide benefits to employees for injuries sustained during employment. The company markets its insurance products through a network of approximately 2,400 independent insurance agencies. Donegal Group Inc. was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in Marietta, Pennsylvania.