Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.69 Million Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 17,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,691,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Narus Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,713 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 453,641 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,128,000 after purchasing an additional 15,070 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 27,333 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,719,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 983,020 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $97,791,000 after purchasing an additional 17,800 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Brenda M. Hall sold 2,626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.88, for a total value of $278,040.88. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,511 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,904.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $108.00 to $105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $111.00 to $109.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $105.17.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $102.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.78 and its 200-day moving average is $102.84. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $91.99 and a one year high of $109.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The insurance provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 14.43% and a net margin of 8.57%. Equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.01%.

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.