Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys Shares of 2,277 Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,277 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Selective Insurance Group by 11.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,725 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 116.2% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 5,904 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the 1st quarter worth $201,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 8.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,495 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 22,063 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,972,000 after buying an additional 2,129 shares during the period. 83.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CEO John J. Marchioni sold 2,976 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.94, for a total value of $297,421.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,460 shares in the company, valued at $14,137,512.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Cynthia S. Nicholson sold 980 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.86, for a total transaction of $99,822.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,364.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John J. Marchioni sold 2,976 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.94, for a total transaction of $297,421.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 141,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,137,512.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,976 shares of company stock valued at $703,804. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $90.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. StockNews.com began coverage on Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.86.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $99.66 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.01 and a 200 day moving average of $98.31. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.89 and a 52 week high of $105.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The insurance provider reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.99. The business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 12.83%. Selective Insurance Group’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Selective Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 27.03%.

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 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; 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; and flood insurance products.