James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Separately, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of James River Group from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th.

James River Group Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:JRVR opened at $14.82 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.82. James River Group has a 12 month low of $13.87 and a 12 month high of $26.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $557.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.39.

James River Group (NASDAQ:JRVR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.04. James River Group had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The company had revenue of $238.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $204.35 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. James River Group’s revenue was up 29.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that James River Group will post 2.11 EPS for the current year.

James River Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. James River Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC raised its holdings in James River Group by 15.7% in the first quarter. Keeley Teton Advisors LLC now owns 227,630 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,701,000 after buying an additional 30,822 shares during the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P grew its stake in shares of James River Group by 22.1% in the first quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 39,819 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $822,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of James River Group in the first quarter worth approximately $9,219,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of James River Group in the first quarter worth approximately $336,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its stake in shares of James River Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 90,399 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. 94.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

James River Group Company Profile

James River Group Holdings, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides specialty insurance and reinsurance services in the United States. It operates through Excess and Surplus Lines, Specialty Admitted Insurance, and Casualty Reinsurance segments. The Excess and Surplus Lines segment underwrites liability and property insurance in all states and the District of Columbia.