Morgan Stanley Lowers RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Price Target to $240.00

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $257.00 to $240.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $237.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $251.00 to $248.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $261.33.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

RNR stock opened at $220.00 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $223.82 and its 200-day moving average is $221.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. RenaissanceRe has a twelve month low of $174.22 and a twelve month high of $239.42.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The insurance provider reported $12.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.86 by $2.32. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 27.09% and a net margin of 24.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 36.88 EPS for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 637.3% during the 4th quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 199,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,037,000 after purchasing an additional 172,154 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,146 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $37,857,000 after acquiring an additional 3,797 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 125,847 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $24,666,000 after acquiring an additional 8,441 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 38.3% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 24,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,863,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 1,829.6% in the 4th quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 1,393,546 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $273,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,321,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

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.