Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) Short Interest Down 39.5% in February

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 79,900 shares, a decline of 39.5% from the January 31st total of 132,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 55,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $305,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,004,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 44.4% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 4,428 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 144.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 22,281 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,836,000 after acquiring an additional 13,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ SAFT traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $76.39. 19,201 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 46,856. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 0.20. Safety Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $73.38 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $79.12 and its 200-day moving average is $81.78.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.23). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 6.35% and a net margin of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $286.72 million for the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Safety Insurance Group’s payout ratio is 75.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Safety Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company’s private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured’s car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured’s own vehicle for collision or other perils.