Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $93.99 and last traded at $93.1090, with a volume of 8762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $97.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.67.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.45.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.12). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,059,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $339,662,000 after buying an additional 1,462,838 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $138,976,000 after acquiring an additional 8,580 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,381,867 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $104,179,000 after acquiring an additional 345,348 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,359,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $102,473,000 after purchasing an additional 44,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth about $65,625,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.