Edgestream Partners L.P. Sells 12,386 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Edgestream Partners L.P. decreased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 57.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,032 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 12,386 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,418,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 82.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 5,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 2,661 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter worth $626,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 13.7% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,292 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 91.7% during the 3rd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 9,787 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $913,000 after purchasing an additional 4,682 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of 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, Bank of America increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.67.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of SIGI opened at $99.89 on Thursday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.99. The company has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92 and a beta of 0.60.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 40.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $130,024.44. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.