Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Safety Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Safety Insurance Group Stock Down 2.0%

SAFT stock opened at $71.43 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 0.24. Safety Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $67.04 and a twelve month high of $84.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The insurance provider reported ($0.72) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($2.17). Safety Insurance Group had a return on equity of 6.31% and a net margin of 4.94%.The company had revenue of $314.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $315.01 million.

Safety Insurance Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Safety Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio is 87.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Safety Insurance Group news, major shareholder Corp Srb sold 14,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.12, for a total transaction of $1,006,419.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,794,655 shares in the company, valued at $127,635,863.60. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,304 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,283. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its position in shares of Safety Insurance Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 4,745 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Safety Insurance Group by 3.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,377 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $309,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Safety Insurance Group by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 23,753 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,851,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.04% of the company’s stock.

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.