Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $2.17 EPS

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The insurance provider reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($2.17), FiscalAI reports. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 9.64%.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SAFT traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $74.30. The stock had a trading volume of 83,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 84,638. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Safety Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $67.04 and a 52 week high of $84.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.55 and a 200 day moving average of $75.52. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.24.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Insider Activity at Safety Insurance Group

In related news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 14,151 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.12, for a total value of $1,006,419.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,794,655 shares in the company, valued at $127,635,863.60. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,283. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Safety Insurance Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 353.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 306,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,884,000 after buying an additional 238,946 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 62.6% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 304,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,741,000 after purchasing an additional 117,261 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 300,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,373,000 after purchasing an additional 51,400 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 224.8% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 139,755 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $9,879,000 after purchasing an additional 96,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 126,054 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,911,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Safety Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Safety Insurance Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Safety Insurance Group

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.