Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley downgraded Selective Insurance Group's rating from "equal weight" to "underweight," with a price objective of $72.00, indicating a potential downside of 8.96% from the current price.
• The stock has seen mixed ratings from analysts, with two sell ratings, four hold ratings, and two buy ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $88.67.
• CEO John J. Marchioni and Director Robert Kelly Doherty made recent stock purchases, indicating insider confidence, with insider ownership at 1.00%.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $72.00 price objective on the insurance provider's stock, down from their previous price objective of $86.00. Morgan Stanley's target price suggests a potential downside of 7.87% from the company's previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on SIGI. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.33.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.15. 317,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 452,343. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $84.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.47. Selective Insurance Group has a 52-week low of $71.75 and a 52-week high of $103.56.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 12.61% and a net margin of 7.50%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.10) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $75.72 per share, with a total value of $151,440.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,915,337.40. This trade represents a 8.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas A. Mccarthy purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.42 per share, with a total value of $193,550.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 18,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,451,315.32. This represents a 15.39% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 10,602 shares of company stock valued at $817,440 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 561.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 580,274 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $53,118,000 after acquiring an additional 492,568 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at about $36,943,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 36.2% during the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,128,252 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $103,280,000 after purchasing an additional 299,925 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 245.7% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 284,669 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $26,622,000 after purchasing an additional 202,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 273.5% during the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 261,165 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $23,907,000 after purchasing an additional 191,237 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Selective Insurance Group Company Profile

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.