EP Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,808 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,680,000. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,054,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth about $258,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth about $794,000. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth about $259,000. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $92.65 on Tuesday. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.78 and a twelve month high of $100.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.51.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.29. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.51%. The business had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on SIGI shares. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.33.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, EVP Michael H. Lanza sold 17,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total value of $1,608,084.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,557,772.60. This trade represents a 50.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company’s core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.