Financial Strategies Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Financial Strategies Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 27.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,019 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc.’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the first quarter worth about $55,468,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,949,000 after purchasing an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $717,735,000 after acquiring an additional 367,987 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in Selective Insurance Group by 32.6% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 35,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 8,807 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 24.8% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 15,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $99.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.67.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI opened at $97.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.03. The stock has a market cap of $5.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.00 and a 52-week high of $109.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. Analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.66 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.74%.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products.