Donegal Group (DGICA) Competitors

Donegal Group (NASDAQ:DGICA) and Hilltop (NYSE:HTH) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, community ranking, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in DGICA or HTH?

Hilltop received 25 more outperform votes than Donegal Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 56.19% of users gave Donegal Group an outperform vote while only 52.71% of users gave Hilltop an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Donegal Group	Outperform Votes 218 56.19%	Underperform Votes 170 43.81%
Hilltop	Outperform Votes 243 52.71%	Underperform Votes 218 47.29%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in DGICA or HTH?

28.0% of Donegal Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.1% of Hilltop shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Donegal Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 29.3% of Hilltop shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk & volatility, DGICA or HTH?

Donegal Group has a beta of -0.04, suggesting that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hilltop has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is DGICA or HTH more profitable?

Hilltop has a net margin of 7.04% compared to Donegal Group's net margin of 5.14%. Donegal Group's return on equity of 9.50% beat Hilltop's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Donegal Group	5.14%	9.50%	2.02%
Hilltop	7.04%	5.18%	0.71%

Does the media refer more to DGICA or HTH?

In the previous week, Hilltop had 1 more articles in the media than Donegal Group. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Hilltop and 4 mentions for Donegal Group. Hilltop's average media sentiment score of 1.69 beat Donegal Group's score of 1.10 indicating that Hilltop is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Donegal Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hilltop	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Do analysts recommend DGICA or HTH?

Hilltop has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.65%. Given Hilltop's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Hilltop is more favorable than Donegal Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Donegal Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Hilltop	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67

Is DGICA or HTH a better dividend stock?

Donegal Group pays an annual dividend of $0.69 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Hilltop pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Donegal Group pays out 45.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hilltop pays out 41.4% 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.

Which has better earnings & valuation, DGICA or HTH?

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
Donegal Group	$989.61M	0.70	$4.43M	$1.52	12.77
Hilltop	$1.12B	1.76	$113.21M	$1.74	17.50

Summary

Hilltop beats Donegal Group on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.