Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 28,819 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 21.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 160,577 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,819 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.26% of Selective Insurance Group worth $14,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SIGI. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 81.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 245.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on SIGI. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI opened at $97.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17 and a beta of 0.57. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $81.00 and a one year high of $109.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.83.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. Selective Insurance Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued 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 is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 40.97%.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.