Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 93,762 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 142,367 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 93,762 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Selective Insurance Group worth $13,283,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 81.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 245.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

SIGI opened at $98.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.87. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.00 and a 1 year high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, 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 through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SIGI shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.67.

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.