Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $79.67, but opened at $76.49. Safety Insurance Group shares last traded at $74.68, with a volume of 24,419 shares traded.

The insurance provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.23). Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $286.72 million during the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.78%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 94.9% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 823.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $181,000. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90 and a beta of 0.20.

About Safety Insurance Group

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company’s private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured’s car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured’s own vehicle for collision or other perils.