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

Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.71.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $93.00 target price (down from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 28.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,468,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $510,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,801 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,097,000 after purchasing an additional 71,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,586,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,048,000 after purchasing an additional 26,880 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,055,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $98,694,000 after purchasing an additional 84,341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $98,396,000 after purchasing an additional 89,692 shares in the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $82.15 on Friday. 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 has a 12 month low of $80.84 and a 12 month high of $109.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.39. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51 and a beta of 0.61.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 4.26%. Research analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.21%.

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.