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

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $100.3333.

Several brokerages have recently commented on SIGI. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI opened at $94.01 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.92. Selective Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $72.78 and a 52 week high of $100.40. The stock has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Michael H. Lanza sold 17,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total value of $1,608,084.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,557,772.60. The trade was a 50.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Amundi lifted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 398.7% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 52.8% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

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.