Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Stock

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) had its price target boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $114.00 to $116.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SIGI. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.57.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.18 and a beta of 0.62. Selective Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $81.00 and a 12-month high of $109.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $96.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.00.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. This is a boost from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 40.97%.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,468,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $510,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,801 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,097,000 after buying an additional 71,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,586,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $148,048,000 after buying an additional 26,880 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,949,000 after acquiring an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 867,691 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $80,956,000 after acquiring an additional 21,374 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

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.