Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) Short Interest Up 32.5% in March

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 99,900 shares, a growth of 32.5% from the February 28th total of 75,400 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 58,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Safety Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of SAFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $79.25. 7,726 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 52,461. Safety Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $73.38 and a fifty-two week high of $90.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 0.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.78.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.23). Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $286.72 million for the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.54%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.47%.

Institutional Trading of Safety Insurance Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 602,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,642,000 after purchasing an additional 89,561 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $18,125,000 after acquiring an additional 69,750 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 212,354 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $17,498,000 after purchasing an additional 37,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Safety Insurance Group by 348.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 18,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company’s private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured’s car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured’s own vehicle for collision or other perils.