Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 1,044 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,935 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SIGI. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 188.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,450,417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $144,287,000 after purchasing an additional 947,147 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth about $67,290,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the first quarter worth about $55,468,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $717,735,000 after purchasing an additional 367,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 2,195.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 257,273 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,594,000 after purchasing an additional 246,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $104.00 to $99.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Selective Insurance Group news, CEO John J. Marchioni bought 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $83.56 per share, with a total value of $200,544.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,397,333.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh purchased 2,000 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $85.85 per share, for a total transaction of $171,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,651 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,888.35. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John J. Marchioni purchased 2,400 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $83.56 per share, for a total transaction of $200,544.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 136,397 shares in the company, valued at $11,397,333.32. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SIGI stock opened at $90.95 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.56. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.00 and a 52-week high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The insurance provider reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($2.59). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 8.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.74%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.