784,336 Shares in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI Purchased by Norges Bank

Key Points

• Norges Bank opened a new position in Selective Insurance Group, buying 784,336 shares valued at about $65.6 million, and now owns roughly 1.3% of the company.
• Institutional ownership in SIGI remains high, with hedge funds and other investors making additional moves; 82.88% of the stock is held by institutions.
• Analysts are mixed but slightly constructive: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $91.67, while the stock recently traded at $88.59 after reporting quarterly EPS below expectations but revenue above estimates.

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 784,336 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $65,625,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.30% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 62.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,596,709 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $208,048,000 after buying an additional 1,003,064 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,758 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $138,976,000 after buying an additional 8,580 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,270,387 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $102,982,000 after purchasing an additional 17,511 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 40.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 725,980 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $62,906,000 after purchasing an additional 207,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 58.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 552,880 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $44,822,000 after purchasing an additional 204,947 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $84.00 to $97.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

NASDAQ SIGI opened at $88.59 on Friday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.75 and a 52 week high of $91.65. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $83.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.39.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.12). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 8.39%.The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 23.53%.

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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