Quest Partners LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 2,486.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,631 shares of the insurance provider's stock after purchasing an additional 7,336 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC's holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 14.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 155,565 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,515,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 9.0% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 170,281 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $15,887,000 after acquiring an additional 14,004 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 16.4% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 717,946 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $66,984,000 after acquiring an additional 101,045 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 160,577 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $14,982,000 after acquiring an additional 28,819 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in Selective Insurance Group by 18.1% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,840 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of Selective Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total transaction of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

NASDAQ SIGI traded up $1.44 on Friday, reaching $97.82. The company had a trading volume of 395,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,765. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $94.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.88. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.00 and a 12 month high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by ($0.29). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. 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 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Selective Insurance Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $101.67.

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.