EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Increases Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 59.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,060 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,995 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $2,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $224,097,000 after purchasing an additional 71,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $148,048,000 after purchasing an additional 26,880 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,055,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,694,000 after buying an additional 84,341 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 884,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $82,693,000 after buying an additional 16,539 shares in the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on SIGI shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (down previously from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.71.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $89.63 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.73 and a 200 day moving average of $91.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 0.54. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.13 and a 52 week high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.20%.

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.