Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $77.63 and traded as high as $103.74. Safety Insurance Group shares last traded at $103.35, with a volume of 179,217 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SAFT. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Safety Insurance Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Safety Insurance Group Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $83.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.63. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.17.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $325.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $325.68 million. Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 7.23% and a net margin of 5.33%. Research analysts anticipate that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 473,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,791,998.09. This trade represents a 72.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,316,109 shares of company stock worth $134,654,987. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the second quarter worth about $171,385,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,661,343 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $129,435,000 after buying an additional 29,511 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Safety Insurance Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 711,806 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $51,708,000 after buying an additional 3,319 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Safety Insurance Group by 353.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 306,554 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,884,000 after buying an additional 238,946 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 304,724 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $23,741,000 after buying an additional 117,261 shares during the last quarter. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.