Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $100.40 and last traded at $99.7840, with a volume of 6303 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $100.15.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SIGI shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $84.00 to $97.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.00.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 0.3%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $90.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.78. The company has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 0.29.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The insurance provider reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by ($0.12). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 13.71%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.53%.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Amundi raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 398.7% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 389 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 410 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 550 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

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.