Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.38 Per Share

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, October 18th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from Selective Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35.

Selective Insurance Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Selective Insurance Group has a dividend payout ratio of 19.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Selective Insurance Group to earn $7.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.6%.

Selective Insurance Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SIGI opened at $99.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 0.57. Selective Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $81.00 and a fifty-two week high of $109.58.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. Selective Insurance Group had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 5.01%. The business’s revenue was up 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Selective Insurance Group will post 3.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Selective Insurance Group

In other Selective Insurance Group news, CAO Anthony D. Harnett sold 1,404 shares of the 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 owns 15,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,476,759.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SIGI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $104.00 to $99.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $104.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $101.67.

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.