RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Trading Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)’s share price was up 6.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $237.12 and last traded at $235.39. Approximately 210,472 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 413,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on RNR. Barclays downgraded RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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 report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded RenaissanceRe from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $284.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price objective (down from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.40.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $237.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.99%. As a group, analysts expect that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.57%.

Insider Transactions at RenaissanceRe

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of RenaissanceRe stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in RenaissanceRe in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in RenaissanceRe during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in RenaissanceRe by 51.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 1,587.5% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Company Profile

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.