2,542 Shares in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Purchased by Corton Capital Inc.

Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,542 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 171.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 114,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,711,000 after purchasing an additional 72,530 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,296 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 151.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 83,562 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $7,815,000 after buying an additional 50,386 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 8.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,061 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $847,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on SIGI shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $93.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $92.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,352 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.06, for a total value of $117,705.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,388,258.76. This represents a 7.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

SIGI opened at $89.62 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $87.99 and a 200-day moving average of $90.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.34. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $78.13 and a 1-year high of $103.56.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Selective Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.42%.

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.