Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $93.50.

Several research firms recently issued reports on SIGI. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com raised Selective Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,352 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total value of $117,705.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,388,258.76. This trade represents a 7.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,128,252 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $103,280,000 after acquiring an additional 299,925 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,055,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,694,000 after acquiring an additional 84,341 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,052,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,396,000 after acquiring an additional 89,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SIGI opened at $89.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.51 and a 200 day moving average of $90.70. Selective Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $78.13 and a 12 month high of $103.56.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.10). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 4.26%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.42%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.