Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.71.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SIGI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price (down previously from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 171.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,711,000 after buying an additional 72,530 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 405,153 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after acquiring an additional 7,563 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 38.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 249.8% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 82,351 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $7,683,000 after purchasing an additional 58,808 shares during the period. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $626,000. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI opened at $91.79 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.83. Selective Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $78.13 and a fifty-two week high of $108.92. The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 28.51 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 4.26%. Sell-side analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.20%.

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.