Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

SIGI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th.

Insider Activity

In other Selective Insurance Group news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,352 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total transaction of $117,705.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,388,258.76. The trade was a 7.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,756,225 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $618,465,000 after acquiring an additional 135,324 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 36.2% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,128,252 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,280,000 after purchasing an additional 299,925 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,052,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,396,000 after purchasing an additional 89,692 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth about $93,409,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 891,871 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $81,642,000 after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $84.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.04. Selective Insurance Group has a one year low of $78.13 and a one year high of $103.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.42%.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products.