Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $81.80.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets lowered Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $81.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $82.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $77.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.53. The stock has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 and a beta of 0.26. Selective Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $71.75 and a 12-month high of $100.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.35 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.96% and a net margin of 7.78%.Selective Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 219.5% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 361 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 398.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 752.4% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 537 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

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.