Freestone Grove Partners LP Acquires Shares of 49,260 Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 49,260 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,607,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.08% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 429 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 444 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 64.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 485 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ SIGI traded up $1.13 on Thursday, reaching $90.83. The company had a trading volume of 110,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,641. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.20 and a beta of 0.51. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.13 and a fifty-two week high of $103.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 4.26%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,352 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total transaction of $117,705.12. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,388,258.76. This represents a 7.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $92.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $93.50.

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.