JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) to “Overweight”

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $284.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.64% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on RNR. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lowered shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price objective (down previously from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.40.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RNR opened at $220.77 on Tuesday. RenaissanceRe has a 1-year low of $208.98 and a 1-year high of $300.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $255.60. The firm has a market cap of $10.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 23.41%. Analysts anticipate that RenaissanceRe will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at RenaissanceRe

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total transaction of $254,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 33,487.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 396,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $95,040,000 after purchasing an additional 394,821 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the fourth quarter worth about $316,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe in the fourth quarter worth about $1,508,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 16,962 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 40.3% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,392 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

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.