AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Position in Renasant Co. (NASDAQ:RNST)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Renasant Co. (NASDAQ:RNST) by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,954 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,376 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Renasant were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of RNST. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Renasant by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 28,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $864,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its holdings in Renasant by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,135 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Renasant by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 11,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in Renasant by 0.9% in the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 88,502 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,703,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Renasant during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 77.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on RNST. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Renasant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $34.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Renasant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of Renasant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $38.00 to $39.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James upgraded Renasant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Renasant from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.33.

Renasant Stock Performance

Shares of RNST opened at $32.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. Renasant Co. has a 1 year low of $22.99 and a 1 year high of $37.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.49.

Renasant (NASDAQ:RNST) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $163.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.05 million. Renasant had a net margin of 15.04% and a return on equity of 6.98%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Renasant Co. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Renasant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Renasant’s payout ratio is 35.77%.

About Renasant

Renasant Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Renasant Bank that provides a range of financial, wealth management, fiduciary, and insurance services to retail and commercial customers. The company operates through Community Banks, Insurance, and Wealth Management segments. The Community Banks segment offers checking and savings accounts, business and personal loans, asset-based lending, and factoring equipment leasing services, as well as safe deposit and night depository facilities.