Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Safety Insurance Group's share price reached a new 52-week low of $68.76 during trading, closing at $70.04.
• Analysts upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, indicating increased investor confidence.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.90 per share, yielding 5.1% annually, with a payout ratio of 73.62%.

Shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $68.76 and last traded at $70.04, with a volume of 84254 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $69.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Safety Insurance Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $75.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.20.

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 5.2%. 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 212,354 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $17,498,000 after acquiring an additional 37,495 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $4,023,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $338,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 101.0% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 7,793 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 3,916 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 9,372 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.