Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust Purchases Shares of 92,775 Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 92,775 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,656,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 36.5% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,218,000 after acquiring an additional 5,435 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 57,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,231,000 after acquiring an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 48.6% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SIGI. Bank of America lifted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $104.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.67.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ SIGI opened at $92.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week high of $109.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average of $92.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.14.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Selective Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.74%.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 $1,476,759.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group 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.