Short Interest in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Declines By 33.9%

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,267,827 shares, a decrease of 33.9% from the March 15th total of 1,917,383 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 586,814 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SIGI. AGF Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,448,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 1,299.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 301,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,480,000 after buying an additional 280,395 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,082,000. Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 381.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after buying an additional 22,456 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ SIGI traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $80.90. 266,254 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,665. Selective Insurance Group has a 12 month low of $71.75 and a 12 month high of $93.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average of $80.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.96.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.24 by $0.33. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SIGI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company’s core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.