Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $416.50.

EG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Everest Group from $461.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Everest Group from $420.00 to $434.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Everest Group from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Everest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $453.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $340.00 price target (down from $425.00) on shares of Everest Group in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Everest Group Stock Performance

NYSE:EG opened at $361.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $366.55. The stock has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.61. Everest Group has a twelve month low of $327.37 and a twelve month high of $407.30.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($18.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.64 by ($30.03). Everest Group had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 9.04%. As a group, research analysts predict that Everest Group will post 47.93 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total transaction of $540,945.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,428,175.77. This represents a 10.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Everest Group

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EG. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Everest Group by 13.7% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,113,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Everest Group by 51.7% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Everest Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 32,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,591,000 after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Everest Group by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 410,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,988,000 after buying an additional 72,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 3,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

About Everest Group

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.