First Trust Advisors LP Acquires New Stake in HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI)

First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,427 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $516,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in HCI Group by 77.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,501 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 6,756 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of HCI Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,358,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of HCI Group by 93.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 113,710 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $13,251,000 after acquiring an additional 54,803 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in HCI Group by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 168,466 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $19,631,000 after acquiring an additional 23,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in HCI Group by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 6,345 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, JMP Securities increased their price target on HCI Group from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCI Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.25.

HCI Group Trading Up 8.0 %

Shares of HCI opened at $167.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.98 and a beta of 1.23. HCI Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.65 and a 1 year high of $176.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.43.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The insurance provider reported $5.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.86. HCI Group had a net margin of 19.37% and a return on equity of 34.17%. The firm had revenue of $216.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.89 million. On average, equities analysts expect that HCI Group, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

HCI Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. HCI Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.18%.

HCI Group Company Profile

HCI Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs.