Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $80.29 and last traded at $80.52, with a volume of 77846 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $82.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (down from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated 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 two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.71.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.77 billion, a PE ratio of 24.38 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.11.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.33% and a net margin of 4.26%. As a group, equities 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.21%.

Institutional Trading of Selective Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 28.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,468,801 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $510,239,000 after buying an additional 1,216,801 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $224,097,000 after buying an additional 71,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,586,527 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $148,048,000 after buying an additional 26,880 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,055,321 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,694,000 after buying an additional 84,341 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,052,142 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $98,396,000 after buying an additional 89,692 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.