Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $104.01 and last traded at $103.97, with a volume of 59,696 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Safety Insurance Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 0.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.33%. The firm had revenue of $325.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.68 million. Equities analysts predict that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Safety Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 79.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 473,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,791,998.09. The trade was a 72.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the second quarter worth about $171,385,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 711,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $10,513,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 140,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,199,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,384 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,258,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc (NASDAQ:SAFT) is an insurance holding company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Through its subsidiaries, including Safety Insurance Company, the company provides property and casualty insurance products to individuals and businesses.

Its principal offerings include private passenger and commercial automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, businessowners policies, dwelling fire coverage, umbrella insurance and workers’ compensation insurance. Safety distributes its products primarily through a network of independent insurance agents and provides related policy administration and claims services.

The company primarily serves customers in New England, with operations focused on Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.