Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.3333.

Several analysts recently commented on SIGI shares. Morgan Stanley cut Selective Insurance Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $86.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 price objective on Selective Insurance Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $77.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.41. The company has a market cap of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.47. Selective Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $71.75 and a 52 week high of $103.56.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 7.50%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $75.72 per share, with a total value of $151,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 25,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,915,337.40. This represents a 8.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John J. Marchioni bought 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.89 per share, with a total value of $249,248.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 139,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,887,074.75. This represents a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 10,602 shares of company stock valued at $817,440. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,728 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 28,140 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,079 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 10,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 7,117 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.