BlackRock Inc. Purchases Shares of 7,778,138 Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 7.78 million shares of Selective Insurance Group valued at approximately $754.6 million, giving it a 13.06% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.88% of the company.
• Selective Insurance Group beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.95 in EPS versus the $1.66 consensus and revenue of $1.39 billion versus $1.30 billion expected.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and a $100.33 price target. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, representing a 1.9% annualized yield.

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,778,138 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $754,557,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 13.06% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,473,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $47,482,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $261,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth $284,000. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael H. Lanza sold 17,100 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,565 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,557,772.60. This trade represents a 50.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SIGI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Selective Insurance Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $97.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $100.33.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 0.7%

Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $91.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.78 and a twelve month high of $100.40. The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.45.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $1.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.34%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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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