Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $105.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $95.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.67.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

SIGI opened at $92.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Selective Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $81.00 and a 1-year high of $109.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.26.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 37.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $130,024.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SIGI. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 15,444.7% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 17,721 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,935,000 after acquiring an additional 17,607 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.1% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the first quarter worth $216,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 36.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.5% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 154,551 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $16,872,000 after acquiring an additional 6,667 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.