Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Underweight

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 equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $72.00 price objective on the insurance provider's stock, down from their prior price objective of $86.00. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential downside of 7.87% from the company's current price.

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

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.15. The company had a trading volume of 317,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 785,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.33. Selective Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $71.75 and a fifty-two week high of $103.56. The firm's fifty day moving average is $84.69 and its 200-day moving average is $86.35. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.47.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.50% and a return on equity of 12.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.10) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, Director Robert Kelly Doherty purchased 1,500 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.00 per share, for a total transaction of $115,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,087,470. The trade was a 5.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Terrence W. Cavanaugh purchased 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $75.72 per share, with a total value of $151,440.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 25,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,915,337.40. This represents a 8.59% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 10,602 shares of company stock worth $817,440 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 141,658 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $12,967,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,317 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $761,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 221.3% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,113 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,559,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.