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

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.67.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SIGI. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 81.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 245.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $102.09 on Monday. Selective Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $81.00 and a twelve month high of $109.58. 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 market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.33 and a 200-day moving average of $92.93.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its earnings results 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). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm 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 earned $1.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 40.97%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.