140,433 Shares in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon acquired 140,433 shares of Safety Insurance Group worth approximately $10.5 million, giving it a 0.96% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 81.04% of SAFT.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with ratings upgrades from Weiss Ratings and Wall Street Zen; the stock now carries a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating.
• Safety Insurance reported quarterly EPS of $2.03, slightly beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% annualized yield.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 140,433 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,513,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.96% of Safety Insurance Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SAFT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 9.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,148 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 914 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 19.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,093 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,689,000 after acquiring an additional 5,619 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,734 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 284.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 85,761 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $6,765,000 after purchasing an additional 63,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 33,747 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SAFT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of Safety Insurance Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 473,387 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,791,998.09. This represents a 72.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,316,109 shares of company stock valued at $134,654,987 in the last quarter. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Safety Insurance Group stock opened at $103.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.04 and a 1-year high of $103.80.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $325.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.68 million. On average, analysts expect that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Safety Insurance Group's payout ratio is currently 79.31%.

Safety Insurance Group Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.

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