US Bancorp DE Purchases 2,896 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 15.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,150 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,896 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $2,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 1st quarter valued at $55,468,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $132,949,000 after buying an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,574,472 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $717,735,000 after buying an additional 367,987 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 32.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 35,798 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $3,908,000 after acquiring an additional 8,807 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 15,616 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $104.00 to $99.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $101.67.

Insider Activity

In other Selective Insurance Group news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 7.2 %

Selective Insurance Group stock opened at $98.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $92.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.00. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.00 and a 1 year high of $109.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.57.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.74%.

Selective Insurance Group Profile

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.