RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on RNR. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $334.00 to $347.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an equal weight rating and a $287.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $280.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $251.00 to $248.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $257.00 to $240.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $267.90.

RenaissanceRe Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE RNR opened at $258.83 on Friday. RenaissanceRe has a one year low of $188.24 and a one year high of $261.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.50 billion, a PE ratio of 5.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.38.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $12.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.88 by $1.53. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 25.38% and a return on equity of 27.74%. On average, equities analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 39.01 earnings per share for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.45%.

Insider Transactions at RenaissanceRe

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,675,120. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,675,120. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert Qutub sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.56, for a total transaction of $561,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 73,915 shares in the company, valued at $16,598,352.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of RenaissanceRe

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RNR. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 637.3% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 199,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,037,000 after purchasing an additional 172,154 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $37,857,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,863,000 after buying an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its position in RenaissanceRe by 1,829.6% during the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,393,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,135,000 after buying an additional 1,321,325 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About RenaissanceRe

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Property, and Casualty and Specialty segments. The Property segment writes property catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance and excess of loss reinsurance to insure insurance and reinsurance companies against natural and man-made catastrophes, including hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis, as well as winter storms, freezes, floods, fires, windstorms, tornadoes, explosions, and acts of terrorism; and other property class of products, such as proportional reinsurance, property per risk, property reinsurance, binding facilities, and regional U.S.