Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Safety Insurance Group's short interest decreased by 30.3% in August, falling to 103,900 shares, with only 0.7% of shares currently sold short.
• Director Dennis J. Langwell increased their holdings by 33.33% after purchasing 2,000 shares at an average price of $72.39, bringing their total to 8,000 shares.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.92, up from the previous $0.90, yielding 5.1% annually.

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 103,900 shares, a decrease of 30.3% from the August 15th total of 149,100 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 93,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 93,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Safety Insurance Group

In related news, Director Dennis J. Langwell bought 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $72.39 per share, with a total value of $144,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $579,120. This trade represents a 33.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAFT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 27.6% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,902 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 7.8% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 50,772 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 3,673 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 1.2% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 14,018 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,112,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 357.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,322 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 86.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 20,354 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 9,463 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

SAFT stock traded down $1.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.93. The stock had a trading volume of 6,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 68,862. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.28. Safety Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $68.76 and a 52 week high of $90.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

Safety Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. This is an increase from Safety Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.45%.

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.

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