Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Grows Stake in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,404 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in RenaissanceRe were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised 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 buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

RNR stock opened at $236.75 on Friday. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has a 1 year low of $208.98 and a 1 year high of $300.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.01 and a 200 day moving average of $257.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $11.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.38.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 EPS for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 price target (down from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, RenaissanceRe has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.90.

Insider Activity at RenaissanceRe

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.