Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 5.3%, now holding over 1.28 million shares, valued at approximately $117 million.
• Selective Insurance Group's recent earnings report revealed $1.31 EPS, falling short of the analyst estimate of $1.55, with revenue of $1.29 billion compared to expectations of $1.32 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38, translating to an annual yield of 1.9%, to be paid on September 2nd, signaling shareholder returns despite recent earnings challenges.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,282,325 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 72,129 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 2.11% of Selective Insurance Group worth $117,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 752.4% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 537 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 58.7% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 673 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, Director Robert Kelly Doherty bought 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.00 per share, with a total value of $115,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 27,110 shares in the company, valued at $2,087,470. This represents a 5.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased 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 $1,915,337.40. This represents a 8.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 10,602 shares of company stock worth $817,440. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $72.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased 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 given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $87.33.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $79.33. 213,385 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,440. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.75 and a 12-month high of $103.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.47. The business's fifty day moving average price is $82.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.41.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.10) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

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

Selective Insurance Group 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.