Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Selective Insurance Group, with five hold, two buy and one sell rating. The average 12-month price target is $100.33, above the stock’s $92.19 opening price.
• Selective Insurance reported quarterly EPS of $1.95, beating the $1.66 consensus estimate, while revenue of $1.39 billion also exceeded expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equating to a 1.9% annualized yield; institutional investors own 82.88% of the outstanding stock.

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Hold" by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.3333.

Several brokerages recently commented on SIGI. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.1%

SIGI opened at $92.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. Selective Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $100.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.29.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 9.10%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Selective Insurance Group's payout ratio is presently 21.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Selective Insurance Group news, EVP Michael Lanza sold 17,100 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total transaction of $1,608,084.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,557,772.60. The trade was a 50.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 398.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 389 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 5.5% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 213,627 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $19,555,000 after buying an additional 11,167 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 17.9% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,705 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,749 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company's core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.

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