Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 133,408 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 72.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 51,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 133,408 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Selective Insurance Group worth $4,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 429 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 957.1% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 444 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $45,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,352 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total value of $117,705.12. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,388,258.76. The trade was a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SIGI. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $92.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.5%

SIGI traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $89.09. 277,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,353. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67 and a beta of 0.51. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $88.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $78.13 and a one year high of $103.56.

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

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.42%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.