Selective Insurance Group, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, March 2nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th.

Selective Insurance Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Selective Insurance Group has a payout ratio of 20.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Selective Insurance Group to earn $8.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.5%.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of SIGI stock traded down $1.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.40. 284,351 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 494,602. Selective Insurance Group has a 52-week low of $71.75 and a 52-week high of $93.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $80.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.33. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 7.78%.The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SIGI. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.60.

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.