Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (SIGI) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 14th

Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIGI) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of 0.38 per share by the insurance provider on Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th.

Selective Insurance Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Selective Insurance Group has a payout ratio of 17.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Selective Insurance Group to earn $8.46 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 18.0%.

Selective Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SIGI opened at $84.11 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.57. Selective Insurance Group has a 52 week low of $80.84 and a 52 week high of $109.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.12 and a beta of 0.61.

Selective Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SIGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The insurance provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.99 by ($0.37). Selective Insurance Group had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 7.33%. On average, equities analysts predict that Selective Insurance Group will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SIGI. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Selective Insurance Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Selective Insurance Group from $96.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Selective Insurance Group in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.71.

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.