Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,802 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SIGI. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 561.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 580,274 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $53,118,000 after buying an additional 492,568 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at $36,943,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 273.5% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 261,165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $23,907,000 after buying an additional 191,237 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 58.7% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 475,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $43,510,000 after buying an additional 175,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,756,225 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $618,465,000 after purchasing an additional 135,324 shares in the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, Director Robert Kelly Doherty acquired 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.00 per share, with a total value of $115,500.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 27,110 shares in the company, valued at $2,087,470. The trade was a 5.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John J. Marchioni acquired 3,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $77.89 per share, with a total value of $249,248.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 139,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,887,074.75. The trade was a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 10,602 shares of company stock worth $817,440. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of SIGI stock opened at $84.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.11. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.75 and a twelve month high of $103.56. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.24). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.50% and a return on equity of 12.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.10) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on SIGI shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $88.00 target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $88.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $84.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $87.50.

Selective Insurance Group 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.