Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 24,213 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Key Points

• Boston Trust Walden cut its SIGI stake by 6%, selling 24,213 shares in the third quarter; it retained 379,145 shares, worth about $31.7 million. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company.
• Selective Insurance beat quarterly estimates, reporting EPS of $2.37 versus $1.91 expected and revenue of $1.33 billion versus $1.17 billion expected. It also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.48 per share from $0.43.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $101.83. The stock was quoted at $101.77, near its 52-week high of $105.65.

Boston Trust Walden Corp lessened its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 6.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 379,145 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 24,213 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned about 0.64% of Selective Insurance Group worth $31,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 596 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 51.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 812 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $72,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $89,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SIGI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.83.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $101.77 on Friday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.78 and a 1-year high of $105.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 0.22. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $90.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.97.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The insurance provider reported $2.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.46. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.40%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 20.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Selective Insurance Group news, Director Cynthia Nicholson sold 3,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.71, for a total value of $364,338.61. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,723,772.73. This represents a 17.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is a holding company for a group of property and casualty insurance subsidiaries. Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey, the company provides insurance products and related services primarily through a network of independent agents.

Selective serves commercial, personal and public-sector customers. Its commercial offerings include business owners policies, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, general liability, commercial property and other specialty coverages.

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