HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 307 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 18.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. Finally, Berry Wealth Group LP acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SIGI. Bank of America upped their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.14.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $93.34 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $96.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.16 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.00 and a fifty-two week high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,476,759.06. This 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 at this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.