Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires 110,381 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 828,327 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 110,381 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 1.36% of Selective Insurance Group worth $77,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 429 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 485 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (down from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.71.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SIGI opened at $85.24 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.84 and a 52 week high of $109.58. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47 and a beta of 0.61.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. On average, analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 47.21%.

Selective Insurance Group 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.