Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Acquires 101,045 Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 717,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,045 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $66,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SIGI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 367,987 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $132,949,000 after purchasing an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 988,846 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $92,783,000 after purchasing an additional 11,327 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 11.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 397,937 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,338,000 after buying an additional 41,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 12.0% during the third quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 313,952 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,292,000 after buying an additional 33,681 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of SIGI stock opened at $98.94 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.87. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week high of $109.58. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.67 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. Selective Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SIGI. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.67.

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.