Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday morning.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of SAFT stock opened at $76.14 on Thursday. Safety Insurance Group has a fifty-two week low of $73.38 and a fifty-two week high of $90.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08 and a beta of 0.20. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.80.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.23). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 6.35% and a net margin of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $286.72 million for the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 602,449 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,642,000 after buying an additional 89,561 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 589,457 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $48,206,000 after buying an additional 2,682 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 355,390 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $29,070,000 after buying an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 239,565 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $19,740,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Safety Insurance Group by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 219,960 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $18,125,000 after buying an additional 69,750 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

About Safety Insurance Group

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.