Norges Bank Purchases New Shares in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 998,814 shares of the insurance provider's stock, valued at approximately $93,409,000. Norges Bank owned 1.64% of Selective Insurance Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Selective Insurance Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 429 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 444 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Selective Insurance Group by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 485 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $180,000. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SIGI has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (down from $116.00) on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.71.

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Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SIGI stock traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $92.83. The company had a trading volume of 516,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 376,565. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $86.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.89. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $78.13 and a 52-week high of $106.01. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83 and a beta of 0.45.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. Equities research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.20%.

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.