Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 2.3%, now owning approximately 11.00% of the company, valued at $129.25 million.
• Several other investors increased their stakes in Safety Insurance Group, with Legato Capital Management boosting its stake by 172.3% during the first quarter.
• Safety Insurance Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.92, reflecting a yield of 5.0%, with the payout scheduled for September 15th.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,638,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 39,250 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.00% of Safety Insurance Group worth $129,255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 166,223 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $13,697,000 after buying an additional 10,768 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 73,878 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,827,000 after buying an additional 1,926 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 13,144.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 63,972 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $5,046,000 after buying an additional 63,489 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 25,851 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,129,000 after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 144.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 22,281 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,836,000 after buying an additional 13,152 shares during the last quarter. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Safety Insurance Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th.

Insider Activity at Safety Insurance Group

In other news, Director Dennis J. Langwell bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.49 per share, with a total value of $142,980.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 6,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $428,940. The trade was a 50.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SAFT traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $73.33. 69,675 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 88,303. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.76 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $73.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.77.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $345.83 million for the quarter. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.07% and a return on equity of 8.34%.

Safety Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. This is a positive change from Safety Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 63.05%.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company's private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured's car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured's own vehicle for collision or other perils.