Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stake in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 14.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,565 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 19,826 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned about 0.26% of Selective Insurance Group worth $14,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SIGI. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Selective Insurance Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 81.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 323 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group in the second quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 245.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,228 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,476,759.06. This represents a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

NASDAQ SIGI opened at $95.98 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.85. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.00 and a 52 week high of $109.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 0.57.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.51 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a positive change from Selective Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is 40.97%.

Selective Insurance Group Company 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.