Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Hits New 52-Week High After Strong Earnings

Shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $103.63 and last traded at $103.50, with a volume of 196696 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $103.26.

The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.22% and a net margin of 5.33%.The firm had revenue of $325.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $322.90 million.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SAFT shares. Weiss Ratings raised Safety Insurance Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Safety Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Insider Transactions at Safety Insurance Group

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 473,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,791,998.09. This trade represents a 72.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,316,109 shares of company stock valued at $134,654,987 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Safety Insurance Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Abbot Financial Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $400,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Safety Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter worth $10,513,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,877 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,807,000 after buying an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Safety Insurance Group by 16.8% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 19,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 2,813 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Safety Insurance Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.47.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.