Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $103.90 and last traded at $103.8220, with a volume of 117045 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.58.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on SAFT. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 0.1%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.45 and its 200 day moving average is $84.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 0.15.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $325.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.68 million. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 7.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total transaction of $127,843,080.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 473,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,791,998.09. This trade represents a 72.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,316,109 shares of company stock worth $134,654,987. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Safety Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAFT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $171,385,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 valued at $51,708,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $10,513,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,384 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,258,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. 81.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.