Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Boosts Stock Holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 8.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,368 shares of the insurance provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,353 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned about 0.14% of Selective Insurance Group worth $7,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Selective Insurance Group by 2,486.8% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 7,336 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $132,949,000 after buying an additional 62,699 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 170,281 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,887,000 after buying an additional 14,004 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 867,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $80,956,000 after buying an additional 21,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 179,741 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $16,770,000 after acquiring an additional 16,689 shares during the period. 82.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SIGI. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Selective Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $102.14.

Selective Insurance Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Selective Insurance Group stock traded up $0.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $96.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 225,710 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,725. The stock has a market cap of $5.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. Selective Insurance Group's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Selective Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 8.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Profile

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.