Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $100.40 and last traded at $99.7840, with a volume of 6303 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $100.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on SIGI. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.0%

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.58. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.29.

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

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,625,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 239.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,036,519 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $86,726,000 after acquiring an additional 730,890 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 332.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 420,106 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $31,672,000 after acquiring an additional 322,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 1,299.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 301,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,480,000 after acquiring an additional 280,395 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.