Selective Insurance raises dividend 12%, authorizes $200 million share buyback
Key Facts
Selective Insurance Group announced a 12% increase in its quarterly shareholder dividend in its third-quarter earnings release issued on 22 October 2026. The decision raised the quarterly common stock dividend to $0.48 per share, increasing the cash income shareholders receive through regular dividends. Alongside the earnings announcement, the board approved a new $200 million authorization to repurchase company shares. The authorization adds to the $53 million that remained available under the existing authorization at the quarter's end on 30 September 2026. The capital return announcement thus includes a higher quarterly dividend and an additional share repurchase authorization, alongside the remaining balance under the previous program.
Net income available to common shareholders totaled $126.4 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's financial supplement. Diluted earnings per share were $2.11 for the period, unchanged from the second quarter of the same year. Meanwhile, non-GAAP diluted operating earnings per share rose to $2.37 in the third quarter. The measure stood at $1.95 in the previous quarter, with operating earnings per share improving while reported earnings per share remained stable. The combined ratio also improved to 96.8% in the third quarter from 98.0% in the second quarter, according to the quarterly comparison in the supplement.
The improvement in the combined ratio coincided with a decline in net premiums written to $1,122.8 million in the third quarter of 2026. Net premiums written totaled $1,220.7 million in the second quarter of the same year, according to the company's financial supplement. On the investment side, after-tax net investment income rose to $127.3 million in the third quarter from $119.2 million in the previous quarter. Book value per share, however, fell to $55.02 at the end of September from $58.13 at the end of June 2026. The increase in quarterly investment income thus coincided with a decline in book value per share, while the company approved the dividend increase and additional buyback authorization as part of its earnings announcement for the period.
The latest dividend increase follows an earlier increase Selective Insurance announced with its third-quarter 2025 results, when it raised the quarterly dividend by 13%. The common stock dividend reached $0.43 per share following that increase, according to the earnings release for that period. Management said at the time that its strategy aimed to "return between 20% and 25% of our earnings through dividends over time." For the full year 2025, the company returned $182 million to common shareholders through regular dividends and share repurchases. In its second-quarter 2026 earnings announcement, the company said it returned 45% of after-tax net income through regular dividends and share repurchases totaling $32 million.
For the rest of the year, Selective Insurance raised its forecast for after-tax net investment income to $490 million for 2026, according to the earnings release. Previous guidance for this item was $480 million for the same year, before the revision announced with the third-quarter results. The company is scheduled to hold its earnings conference call on 23 October 2026, following the release of the statement and financial supplement. The new quarterly dividend will be paid to shareholders of record on 16 November 2026, under the eligibility terms it announced. The company set 1 December 2026 as the payment date for the declared dividend to eligible shareholders.