Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

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

Safety Insurance Group Trading Up 10.7 %

SAFT opened at $88.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $82.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.54. Safety Insurance Group has a 12-month low of $71.99 and a 12-month high of $90.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59 and a beta of 0.17.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.12). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 5.53% and a net margin of 4.96%. The business had revenue of $269.78 million for the quarter.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.35%.

Insider Activity at Safety Insurance Group

In other news, VP Glenn Hiltpold sold 389 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.41, for a total transaction of $32,835.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,729.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 915 shares of company stock valued at $75,125 over the last quarter. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAFT. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 113.2% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 54,929 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,515,000 after buying an additional 29,167 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 101.7% during the first quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 405,118 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $33,297,000 after purchasing an additional 204,218 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 3.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,695,813 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $139,379,000 after buying an additional 54,441 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 458.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Safety Insurance Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,192 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,660,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.