Royce & Associates LP Cuts Stake in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT - Free Report) by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,347 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 40,945 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.27% of Safety Insurance Group worth $3,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SAFT. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Safety Insurance Group by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 512,888 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $41,944,000 after buying an additional 57,320 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,813 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $139,379,000 after acquiring an additional 54,441 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 113.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 54,929 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $4,515,000 after acquiring an additional 29,167 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 8,078.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 16,356 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 16,156 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth $980,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Safety Insurance Group

In other Safety Insurance Group news, VP Glenn Hiltpold sold 389 shares of Safety Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.41, for a total transaction of $32,835.49. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,204 shares in the company, valued at $945,729.64. The trade was a 3.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Down 1.0 %

SAFT stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 62,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 51,939. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.17. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $81.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.84. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.99 and a 1 year high of $90.00.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.40 by ($0.30). Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 6.35%. The company had revenue of $295.28 million during the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Safety Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Safety Insurance Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th.

Safety Insurance Group Profile

Safety Insurance Group, Inc provides private passenger and commercial automobile, and homeowner insurance in the United States. The company's private passenger automobile policies offer coverage for bodily injury and property damage to others, no-fault personal injury coverage for the insured/insured's car occupants, and physical damage coverage for an insured's own vehicle for collision or other perils.