Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

Safety Insurance Group Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:SAFT opened at $84.86 on Thursday. Safety Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $71.99 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $81.91 and its 200 day moving average is $80.80. The company has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.17.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The insurance provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.30). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 6.35% and a net margin of 6.86%. The business had revenue of $295.28 million during the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Glenn Hiltpold sold 389 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.41, for a total transaction of $32,835.49. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $945,729.64. This trade represents a 3.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 12,946 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,905 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 7,500 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 458.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,199 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Safety Insurance Group Company Profile

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.