Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Receives $101.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $101.67.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SIGI. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 2.2 %

SIGI opened at $102.00 on Monday. Selective Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $81.00 and a 1-year high of $109.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $94.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.79.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.97%.

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 dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SIGI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,949,000 after buying an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 2,486.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,631 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 7,336 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 170,281 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $15,887,000 after purchasing an additional 14,004 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 179,741 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,770,000 after purchasing an additional 16,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 24.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.