Bank of America Cuts Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Price Target to $97.00

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $98.00 to $97.00 in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underperform rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SIGI. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday, April 5th. Piper Sandler reissued a neutral rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 1st. JMP Securities reissued a market perform rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $103.00 price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $106.60.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

SIGI opened at $96.34 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.89. Selective Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $89.78 and a 1 year high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The insurance provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by ($0.55). The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.11 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 8.02%. Selective Insurance Group’s revenue was up 16.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 14th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Selective Insurance Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 262.8% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 11,138 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 8,068 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 12.3% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,571 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after buying an additional 941 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 5.5% during the second quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 5,665 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 81.5% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Finally, EULAV Asset Management increased its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.8% during the first quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 110,193 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $12,030,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Selective Insurance Group

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.