Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Stock

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Barclays from $256.00 to $273.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the insurance provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 10.45% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective (down from $282.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $269.00 price objective (up from $267.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.89.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

RNR stock opened at $247.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a PE ratio of 6.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $242.35 and its 200-day moving average is $241.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. RenaissanceRe has a 1 year low of $219.00 and a 1 year high of $300.00.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $12.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.28 by $2.01. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 15.00%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $12.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that RenaissanceRe will post 26.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at RenaissanceRe

In related news, CAO James Christopher Fraser sold 332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.54, for a total transaction of $82,847.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 27,154 shares in the company, valued at $6,776,009.16. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNR. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in RenaissanceRe by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 817,247 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $203,339,000 after acquiring an additional 124,125 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the first quarter worth $271,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the fourth quarter worth $561,000. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the first quarter worth $348,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,715 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in 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.