Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Stock Price

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its target price decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $301.00 to $288.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on RenaissanceRe from $229.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays cut RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $364.00 to $391.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on RenaissanceRe from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $284.00.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RNR opened at $257.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.55. RenaissanceRe has a fifty-two week low of $203.35 and a fifty-two week high of $300.00. The company has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The insurance provider reported $10.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.89 by $2.34. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 42.29 earnings per share for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is 2.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in RenaissanceRe by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in RenaissanceRe by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $696,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after buying an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. 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.