10,862 Shares in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. $SIGI Purchased by Sterling Financial Planning Inc.

Sterling Financial Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,862 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,054,000. Selective Insurance Group accounts for approximately 0.3% of Sterling Financial Planning Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Comerica Bank raised its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 94.8% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 55,955 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,682,000 after purchasing an additional 27,236 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $468,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Selective Insurance Group by 138.0% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 62,686 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 36,351 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 237,076 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,836,000 after purchasing an additional 74,757 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 253,223 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,090,000 after purchasing an additional 121,487 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, EVP Michael H. Lanza sold 17,100 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.04, for a total transaction of $1,608,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,557,772.60. This trade represents a 50.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SIGI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Selective Insurance Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $97.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Selective Insurance Group from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.33.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $91.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.78 and a 12-month high of $100.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $95.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.45.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.29. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 14.51% and a net margin of 9.10%.The company had revenue of $1.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 21.34%.

About Selective Insurance Group

Selective Insurance Group, Inc is an insurance holding company headquartered in Branchville, New Jersey. The organization traces its roots to a regional provider of property and casualty coverage and became a publicly traded holding company following its initial public offering in 1999. Since its formation, Selective has expanded through strategic acquisitions and organic growth initiatives to broaden its product offerings and strengthen its market position.

The company’s core business encompasses a broad range of property and casualty insurance products designed to serve both commercial and personal lines customers.