Jefferies Financial Group Has Lowered Expectations for RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Stock Price

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its price target reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $266.00 to $265.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on RNR. Barclays cut RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $284.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $318.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment 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.com, RenaissanceRe currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $280.80.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

RenaissanceRe stock opened at $237.92 on Friday. RenaissanceRe has a 12-month low of $208.98 and a 12-month high of $300.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $236.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $254.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 26.04 EPS for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of RenaissanceRe

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RNR. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 1,587.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 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.