The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Invests $416,000 in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Safety Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,524,000. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,647,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Virtus Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $968,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Safety Insurance Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Safety Insurance Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Safety Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Safety Insurance Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Insider Transactions at Safety Insurance Group

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 473,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,791,998.09. This represents a 72.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,316,109 shares of company stock valued at $134,654,987. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Safety Insurance Group stock opened at $103.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.41 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.04 and a 1-year high of $103.80.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The firm had revenue of $325.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.68 million. On average, analysts expect that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Safety Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 79.31%.

Safety Insurance Group Profile

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.