Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) Short Interest Down 16.1% in March

Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 736,900 shares, a decline of 16.1% from the February 28th total of 878,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 432,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Everest Group from $461.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Everest Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $453.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Everest Group from $390.00 to $380.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Everest Group from $420.00 to $434.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $340.00 target price (down from $425.00) on shares of Everest Group in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Everest Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $416.50.

Everest Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EG traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $365.59. 199,031 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,275. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $351.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $366.15. Everest Group has a 1-year low of $327.37 and a 1-year high of $407.30. 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 has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.61.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported ($18.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $11.64 by ($30.03). Everest Group had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 7.95%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Everest Group will post 47.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Everest Group’s payout ratio is 25.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total value of $540,945.00. Following the completion of 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Everest Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in Everest Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 1,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in shares of Everest Group by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the period. Steph & Co. boosted its holdings in Everest Group by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its position in Everest Group by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 1,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its holdings in Everest Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 5,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,913,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.