Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 99,900 shares, an increase of 32.5% from the February 28th total of 75,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 58,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 94.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 308 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Safety Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 823.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Safety Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at $181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 1.4 %

SAFT stock traded up $1.09 on Tuesday, hitting $79.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 48,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,670. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.76. Safety Insurance Group has a 1 year low of $73.38 and a 1 year high of $90.00.

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

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.50%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.47%.

About Safety Insurance Group

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.