Short Interest in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Declines By 33.9%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 33.9% in March to 1,267,827 shares, leaving a short‑interest ratio of 2.2 days and roughly 2.1% of the company's shares sold short.
• Large institutional buying: AQR boosted its stake to 4,059,547 shares, First Trust and others added sizable positions, and institutional ownership is 82.88%.
• Selective beat Q4 estimates with EPS of $2.57 (vs. $2.24 expected), has a $4.84 billion market cap and a PE of 10.8, and pays a $1.72 annual dividend (≈2.1% yield).

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,267,827 shares, a decrease of 33.9% from the March 15th total of 1,917,383 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 586,814 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,059,547 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $339,662,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462,838 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at $65,625,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 239.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,036,519 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $86,726,000 after purchasing an additional 730,890 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1,299.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 301,965 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $24,480,000 after purchasing an additional 280,395 shares during the period. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 91.2% in the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 552,650 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $44,803,000 after purchasing an additional 263,631 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock traded down $0.84 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 266,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 545,665. Selective Insurance Group has a 1-year low of $71.75 and a 1-year high of $93.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.84 and a 200 day moving average of $80.96. The company has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.24 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.74% and a return on equity of 14.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 13th were paid a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 22.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on SIGI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.60.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company's core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.

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