The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys Shares of 5,557 Safety Insurance Group, Inc. $SAFT

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of Safety Insurance Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SAFT) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,557 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 74.8% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 388 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new position in Safety Insurance Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Safety Insurance Group by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 653.0% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 497 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 1,317.1% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. 81.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Safety Insurance Group

In related news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 1,240,352 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.07, for a total value of $127,843,080.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 473,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,791,998.09. This represents a 72.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 1,316,109 shares of company stock worth $134,654,987 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of Safety Insurance Group stock opened at $103.15 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.41. Safety Insurance Group, Inc. has a one year low of $67.04 and a one year high of $103.80. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23 and a beta of 0.16.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The insurance provider reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.03. Safety Insurance Group had a net margin of 5.33% and a return on equity of 7.23%. The company had revenue of $325.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $325.68 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Safety Insurance Group, Inc. will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Safety Insurance Group’s payout ratio is presently 79.31%.

About Safety Insurance Group

Safety Insurance Group, Inc is a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company incorporated in Massachusetts in 1994. Its principal subsidiary, Safety Insurance Company, traces its roots back to 1923 and has since evolved into a regional personal lines insurer. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol SAFT.

Safety Insurance Group focuses primarily on private passenger automobile and homeowners insurance products, along with dwelling fire, umbrella liability, and certain commercial auto coverages.