Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management reduced its Selective Insurance Group stake by 87.5% in the third quarter, selling 169,135 shares and retaining 24,270 shares valued at approximately $2.03 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 82.88%, with BlackRock, Wellington Management and Bank of America establishing new positions while First Trust Advisors and Dimensional Fund Advisors increased their holdings.
• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $101.00. Selective Insurance recently exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.95 in EPS versus the $1.66 consensus.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 87.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,270 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 169,135 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $754,557,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,381,867 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $104,179,000 after purchasing an additional 345,348 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,359,224 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $102,473,000 after purchasing an additional 44,532 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $77,149,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,423,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SIGI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut Selective Insurance Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $105.00 to $97.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Selective Insurance Group news, EVP Michael Lanza sold 17,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total value of $1,608,084.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,557,772.60. This trade represents a 50.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $91.08 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.66. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $100.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.29. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Selective Insurance Group

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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