Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires 64,000 Shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT

Key Points

• Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 41.8% by acquiring an additional 64,000 shares, owning approximately 1.46% of the company valued at $17.1 million.
• Safety Insurance Group announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.90 to $0.92, representing a yield of 5.1% and an annualized dividend of $3.68.
• Wall Street Zen downgraded Safety Insurance Group's stock rating from "buy" to "hold" in early August.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Free Report) by 41.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 217,000 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 64,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 1.46% of Safety Insurance Group worth $17,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,585 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,285,000 after buying an additional 2,425 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 166,223 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,697,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 17,790 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $453,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $181,000. 81.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 2.7%

NASDAQ SAFT traded up $2.00 on Thursday, reaching $74.96. The company had a trading volume of 82,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,982. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.76 and a fifty-two week high of $90.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $72.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.13 and a beta of 0.28.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.60 by ($0.15). Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 8.34%. The business had revenue of $345.83 million during the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.92 dividend. This is a boost from Safety Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dennis J. Langwell purchased 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $72.39 per share, with a total value of $144,780.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $579,120. This represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Safety Insurance Group Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company's private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured's car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured's own vehicle for collision or other perils.