Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its position in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 51.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,896 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 79,536 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.12% of Selective Insurance Group worth $6,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,468,801 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $510,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,801 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,401,897 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $224,097,000 after purchasing an additional 71,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,586,527 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $148,048,000 after purchasing an additional 26,880 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 4.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,416,957 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $132,949,000 after buying an additional 62,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Selective Insurance Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 867,691 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $80,956,000 after buying an additional 21,374 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SIGI stock traded down $2.70 on Wednesday, hitting $92.60. 287,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 351,715. The firm's 50 day moving average is $96.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.01. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $81.00 and a one year high of $109.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. Selective Insurance Group's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Selective Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.97%.

Insider Transactions at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $130,024.44. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.