Morgan Stanley Cuts RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Price Target to $245.00

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $265.00 to $245.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on RNR. Bank of America upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on RenaissanceRe from $229.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $283.45.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

NYSE RNR opened at $232.52 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 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 has a 1 year low of $208.98 and a 1 year high of $300.00.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 15.99%. Analysts predict that RenaissanceRe will post 34.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. RenaissanceRe’s payout ratio is 4.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 32.4% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,697,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $461,679,000 after acquiring an additional 415,366 shares during the last quarter. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC purchased a new position in RenaissanceRe during the 3rd quarter valued at about $18,969,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. bought a new position in RenaissanceRe during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $17,086,000. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,176,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 115.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 81,006 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,066,000 after buying an additional 43,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Company Profile

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.