Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday. The stock traded as high as $104.36 and last traded at $104.31, with a volume of 41,790 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $103.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised Safety Insurance Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Safety Insurance Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 0.3%

The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.47 and a beta of 0.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $103.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company had revenue of $325.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.68 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.31%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAFT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Safety Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $171,385,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 711,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $51,708,000 after acquiring an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,513,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 0.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 140,400 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $10,199,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 72,384 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,258,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company that provides property and casualty insurance products primarily through its subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company. The company focuses on personal and commercial insurance coverage for individuals, families, and businesses.

Its product offerings include private passenger automobile insurance, homeowners insurance, dwelling fire coverage, business owners policies, commercial automobile insurance, and related property and liability products.