Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Shares Sold by Champlain Investment Partners LLC

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 54.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 445,379 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 541,236 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.73% of Selective Insurance Group worth $41,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,949,000 after buying an additional 62,699 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 988,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,783,000 after purchasing an additional 11,327 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 867,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $80,956,000 after purchasing an additional 21,374 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 717,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $66,984,000 after purchasing an additional 101,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Selective Insurance Group by 112.7% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 427,180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $42,667,000 after purchasing an additional 226,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SIGI. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of 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 lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.67.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SIGI opened at $97.82 on Friday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week 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 $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $94.41 and a 200-day moving average of $92.87.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.97%.

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.