RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $279.69, but opened at $272.09. RenaissanceRe shares last traded at $255.08, with a volume of 276,977 shares trading hands.

Specifically, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.00, for a total transaction of $279,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 82,044 shares in the company, valued at $22,890,276. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $287.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of RenaissanceRe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $251.00 to $248.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $262.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, RenaissanceRe presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $275.56.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $252.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.01.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The insurance provider reported $12.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.88 by $1.53. The business had revenue of $2.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 25.38% and a return on equity of 27.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 39.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RNR. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe during the first quarter valued at about $46,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,863,000 after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 1,829.6% in the fourth quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,393,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $273,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,321,325 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the second quarter worth about $2,887,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 16.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 27,448 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $6,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,962 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.