Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Sets New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Safety Insurance Group shares reached a new 52-week high of $103.80, with the stock trading near $103.71 and well above its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment has improved to a “Moderate Buy” consensus, while the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $2.03 exceeded estimates by $0.03.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.92 per share, implying a 3.5% yield, although insiders have sold more than $134 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $103.80 and last traded at $103.7110, with a volume of 75842 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.64.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on SAFT. Zacks Research raised Safety Insurance Group to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Safety Insurance Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Safety Insurance Group Trading Down 0.0%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company's fifty day moving average price is $89.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 0.17.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $325.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $325.68 million. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Safety Insurance Group's payout ratio is presently 79.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Safety Insurance Group

In other news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 473,387 shares in the company, valued at $48,791,998.09. This trade represents a 72.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,316,109 shares of company stock worth $134,654,987. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Odyssean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $768,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 44.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 67,915 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,933,000 after buying an additional 21,018 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $171,385,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,661,343 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $129,435,000 after acquiring an additional 29,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $1,187,000. 81.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

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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