Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) Short Interest Up 32.5% in March

Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 99,900 shares, a growth of 32.5% from the February 28th total of 75,400 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 58,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of SAFT stock traded up $1.09 on Tuesday, hitting $79.97. The company had a trading volume of 48,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,670. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 0.13. Safety Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $73.38 and a twelve month high of $90.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.76.

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

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.47%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Safety Insurance Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAFT. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 17.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 46.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 69,750 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 212,354 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $17,498,000 after purchasing an additional 37,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 348.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,430 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,997,000 after purchasing an additional 18,987 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Safety Insurance Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th.

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.