Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Takes $7.06 Million Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a stake of 77,130 shares in Selective Insurance Group, valued at approximately $7,060,000, representing about 0.13% ownership of the company.
• Selective Insurance Group reported earnings of $1.31 per share for the last quarter, which was below the estimated $1.55, resulting in a net margin of 7.50% and revenue of $1.29 billion.
• Institutional investors hold 82.88% of Selective Insurance Group's stock, with recent changes in ratings from analysts indicating a cautious outlook for the stock, including multiple downgrades and a consensus target price of $87.33.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 77,130 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,060,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.13% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 440.9% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,064 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 5,758 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,911 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,984,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 142.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 9,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $928,000 after purchasing an additional 5,814 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth $935,000. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter worth $349,000. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Selective Insurance Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $87.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.72 per share, with a total value of $151,440.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 25,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,915,337.40. This represents a 8.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas A. Mccarthy bought 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.42 per share, with a total value of $193,550.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,451,315.32. The trade was a 15.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 10,602 shares of company stock valued at $817,440 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SIGI stock traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.13. 1,723,033 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 462,878. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.75 and a 52 week high of $103.56. The stock has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock's 50-day moving average is $82.46 and its 200-day moving average is $85.37.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.24). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 7.50%.The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 24.88%.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Standard Commercial Lines, Standard Personal Lines, E&S Lines, and Investments. It offers casualty insurance products that covers the financial consequences of employee injuries in the course of employment and bodily injury and/or property damage to a third party; property insurance products, which covers the accidental loss of an insured's real property, personal property, and/or earnings due to the property's loss; and flood insurance products.