Brokerages Set RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Price Target at $279.90

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $279.90.

Several research firms have commented on RNR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $318.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RNR. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe during the third quarter worth about $3,684,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 80,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $22,003,000 after purchasing an additional 8,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in RenaissanceRe by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 920,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $250,892,000 after purchasing an additional 25,773 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 367.4% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 30,476 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,302,000 after buying an additional 23,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 12,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,342,000 after buying an additional 3,954 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE RNR opened at $233.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. RenaissanceRe has a 52 week low of $208.98 and a 52 week high of $300.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $250.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.75.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 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, research analysts expect that RenaissanceRe will post 29.92 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.45%.

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.