Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Cuts Stock Holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,900 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $1,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 2.1% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 14,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 36.5% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,319 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,218,000 after purchasing an additional 5,435 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 14.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 57,072 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,231,000 after purchasing an additional 7,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 48.6% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 5,951 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $104.00 to $99.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price 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. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.67.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of SIGI stock opened at $90.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.56. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $81.00 and a one year high of $109.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.86%.

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.