Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI Stake Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,756,225 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 135,324 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.12% of Selective Insurance Group worth $618,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SIGI. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 36.9% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 63,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 17,236 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 26,058 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,385,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 23.3% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 222,214 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $20,342,000 after acquiring an additional 41,946 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at $702,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,155,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SIGI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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 report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered Selective Insurance Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $87.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John J. Marchioni bought 3,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.89 per share, for a total transaction of $249,248.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 139,775 shares in the company, valued at $10,887,074.75. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert Kelly Doherty purchased 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $77.00 per share, with a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 27,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,087,470. The trade was a 5.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 10,602 shares of company stock valued at $817,440. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 0.7%

Selective Insurance Group stock traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $76.20. 66,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,463. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.75 and a 1 year high of $103.56. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.49 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.76.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 7.50%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.10) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.88%.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

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.