Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,880 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 3,537 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.21% of Selective Insurance Group worth $12,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,097,000 after acquiring an additional 71,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,586,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,048,000 after acquiring an additional 26,880 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,055,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,694,000 after acquiring an additional 84,341 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth about $93,409,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 884,230 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,693,000 after acquiring an additional 16,539 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (down from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Selective Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.17.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ SIGI opened at $86.79 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.60. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.13 and a 1-year high of $104.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 47.20%.

Selective Insurance Group Company 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.