William Blair Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI

William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 292,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,378,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank grew its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 94.8% in the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 55,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after purchasing an additional 27,236 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $468,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 138.0% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 62,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,245,000 after acquiring an additional 36,351 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 237,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,836,000 after purchasing an additional 74,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 92.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,090,000 after acquiring an additional 121,487 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, EVP Michael H. Lanza sold 17,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total value of $1,608,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,557,772.60. This represents a 50.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SIGI stock opened at $91.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.30. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.78 and a fifty-two week high of $100.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $95.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

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

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SIGI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.33.

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.