Norges Bank Invests $65.63 Million in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 784,336 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,625,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 138.0% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 62,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 36,351 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,758 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $138,976,000 after purchasing an additional 8,580 shares during the last quarter. Roundview Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $320,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 60,290 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,044,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 3.0%

SIGI stock opened at $88.59 on Friday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.75 and a 1-year high of $91.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.43 and its 200 day moving average is $82.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.32.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Three 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.67.

Selective Insurance Group 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.