Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Trims Holdings in Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd reduced its position in shares of Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI - Free Report) by 71.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,514 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 6,148 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Selective Insurance Group were worth $235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Selective Insurance Group by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,468,801 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $510,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,801 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,726,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Selective Insurance Group by 112.7% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 427,180 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $42,667,000 after purchasing an additional 226,387 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in Selective Insurance Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,767,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 101,045 shares during the last quarter. 82.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of SIGI stock traded up $1.00 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $93.60. The company had a trading volume of 295,941 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,500. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $96.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.01. Selective Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.00 and a 52-week high of $109.58. The company has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 0.60.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The insurance provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.69 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group, Inc. will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Selective Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Selective Insurance Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Selective Insurance Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Selective Insurance Group

In other news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.61, for a total value of $130,024.44. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 15,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,476,759.06. The trade was a 8.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Selective Insurance Group

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.