Insider Selling: Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Major Shareholder Sells $4,003,111.80 in Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Corp Srb sold 38,835 SAFT shares at an average price of $103.08, generating approximately $4.0 million. The sale reduced its direct stake by 2.22% to 1.71 million shares.
• Safety Insurance Group shares traded near their 52-week high at $103.09, while the company’s latest quarterly earnings missed estimates, reporting a loss of $0.72 per share versus the expected $1.45 profit.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.92, equivalent to $3.68 annually and a 3.6% yield. Analysts currently have a consensus “Hold” rating, and institutional investors own 81.04% of the stock.

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) major shareholder Corp Srb sold 38,835 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.08, for a total value of $4,003,111.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,713,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $176,652,216.12. The trade was a 2.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Corp Srb also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 13th, Corp Srb sold 34,272 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.04, for a total value of $2,606,042.88.
• On Thursday, July 9th, Corp Srb sold 2,650 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.51, for a total transaction of $202,751.50.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SAFT stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $103.09. The company had a trading volume of 155,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,587. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.94. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $67.04 and a one year high of $103.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 24.37 and a beta of 0.21.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($2.17). Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 6.31%. The company had revenue of $314.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.01 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAFT. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 285.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 28,204 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,994,000 after buying an additional 20,892 shares in the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at $2,935,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 83,787 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $6,528,000 after purchasing an additional 13,082 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,661,343 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,435,000 after buying an additional 29,511 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 118.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 29,255 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $2,279,000 after buying an additional 15,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SAFT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Safety Insurance Group to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold".

About Safety Insurance Group

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.

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