Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in HCI Group, Inc. $HCI

Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,416 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of HCI Group by 107.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 158,224 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $24,082,000 after buying an additional 81,884 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 175.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,985 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,684,000 after acquiring an additional 8,899 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of HCI Group by 6.7% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 556,670 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $106,842,000 after acquiring an additional 35,029 shares during the last quarter. Alden Global Capital LLC bought a new stake in HCI Group during the second quarter worth $3,059,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in HCI Group during the third quarter worth $1,108,000. 86.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of HCI Group in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded HCI Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of HCI Group in a report on Friday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, HCI Group presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.67.

HCI Group Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:HCI opened at $153.90 on Thursday. HCI Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $129.58 and a 12 month high of $210.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $160.31 and its 200 day moving average is $176.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 1.16.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The insurance provider reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.87 by $2.38. The firm had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.36 million. HCI Group had a return on equity of 36.34% and a net margin of 33.19%. Sell-side analysts expect that HCI Group, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

HCI Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. HCI Group’s dividend payout ratio is 7.05%.

About HCI Group

HCI Group, Inc (NYSE: HCI) is a holding company whose principal business is the underwriting and issuance of property and casualty insurance through its insurance subsidiaries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, the company focuses primarily on personal-line insurance products, writing homeowners, condominium, renters and mobile home policies. HCI Group also offers wind-only and flood coverage in coastal regions across the state, providing tailored solutions to both coastal and non-coastal communities.

The company distributes its insurance products through a network of independent agents and brokers, leveraging local market expertise to assess risk and deliver personalized service.