Champlain Investment Partners LLC Lowers Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 423,984 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 21,395 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $39,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 429 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 957.1% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 444 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 64.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 485 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (down previously from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.17.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

SIGI stock opened at $89.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.44. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.13 and a 12-month high of $104.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.20%.

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.