Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $93.05 and last traded at $92.27, with a volume of 331422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SIGI. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. 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 stock from $84.00 to $97.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $85.29 and its 200-day moving average is $82.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.12). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 8.39%.The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 23.53%.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the third quarter valued at about $5,082,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1,299.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 301,965 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,480,000 after buying an additional 280,395 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 381.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,347 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after buying an additional 22,456 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 94.8% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 55,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after buying an additional 27,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at about $468,000. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company’s core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.