653,775 Shares in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI Bought by Bank of America Corp DE

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 653,775 shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter, worth approximately $63.4 million and representing about 1.1% of SIGI. Institutional investors collectively own 82.88% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally neutral outlook: SIGI has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.33, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell.
• Selective Insurance exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.95 in earnings per share versus the $1.66 consensus and revenue of $1.39 billion. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% annualized yield.

Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 653,775 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $63,423,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 1.10% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $754,557,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,758 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $138,976,000 after acquiring an additional 8,580 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,381,867 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $104,179,000 after acquiring an additional 345,348 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,359,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $102,473,000 after acquiring an additional 44,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,625,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SIGI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Selective Insurance Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $97.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $100.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, EVP Michael Lanza sold 17,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,557,772.60. This represents a 50.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

SIGI opened at $86.70 on Friday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $100.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.27 and a 200 day moving average of $88.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 0.29.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.11 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Selective Insurance Group's payout ratio is presently 21.34%.

Selective Insurance Group Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc NASDAQ: SIGI is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance through its operating subsidiaries. Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey, the company serves commercial and personal customers through a network of independent insurance agents.

Selective's products include commercial automobile, property, general liability, workers' compensation and other coverage designed for businesses, municipalities and professionals.

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