Northern Trust Corp Sells 19,814 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp has reduced its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 1.9%, now holding approximately 1,032,328 shares valued at $94.5 million.
• Director Thomas A. McCarthy and Director Robert Kelly Doherty have recently increased their holdings by purchasing 2,500 and 1,500 shares, respectively.
• Selective Insurance Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.9%, to be paid on September 2nd.

Northern Trust Corp reduced its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,032,328 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 19,814 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.70% of Selective Insurance Group worth $94,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,756,225 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $618,465,000 after acquiring an additional 135,324 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 36.2% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,128,252 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $103,280,000 after acquiring an additional 299,925 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 891,871 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $81,642,000 after acquiring an additional 7,641 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 805,704 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $73,755,000 after acquiring an additional 62,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 564,542 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $52,796,000 after purchasing an additional 160,193 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SIGI shares. Wall Street Zen raised Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $86.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $87.33.

Insider Activity

In other Selective Insurance Group news, Director Robert Kelly Doherty bought 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased 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 owned 27,110 shares in the company, valued at $2,087,470. This represents a 5.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $75.72 per share, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 10,602 shares of company stock valued at $817,440. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ SIGI traded down $1.13 on Thursday, reaching $77.91. 1,362,298 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 459,898. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $71.75 and a one year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.47. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $82.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.37.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.10) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.