Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $91.85 and last traded at $91.1780, with a volume of 54462 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $90.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SIGI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $97.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57 and a beta of 0.32.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.81 by ($0.12). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 13.71% and a net margin of 8.39%.The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Amundi boosted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 398.7% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 213,627 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,555,000 after purchasing an additional 11,167 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,705 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $468,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 3,749 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

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.