Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Makes New Investment in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,702 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $345,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SIGI. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter worth $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the second quarter worth about $188,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SIGI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

SIGI opened at $96.73 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.04. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.00 and a 1 year high of $109.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 0.60.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is currently 40.97%.

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.