Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE:RGA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE:RGA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $267.56.

RGA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Reinsurance Group of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Reinsurance Group of America in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Reinsurance Group of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $269.00 to $291.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $278.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Reinsurance Group of America news, EVP Jonathan Porter sold 8,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.30, for a total transaction of $2,115,470.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,666,175.50. This trade represents a 36.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Reinsurance Group of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Reinsurance Group of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,767,000. SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Reinsurance Group of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $81,533,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Reinsurance Group of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $82,836,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 2,626.6% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 195,794 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,973,000 after buying an additional 188,613 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 965.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 179,440 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $38,158,000 after buying an additional 162,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.11% of the company’s stock.

Reinsurance Group of America Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:RGA opened at $251.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.45. Reinsurance Group of America has a 52 week low of $178.21 and a 52 week high of $257.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $245.78 and a 200 day moving average of $224.42.

Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The insurance provider reported $8.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.50 by $2.39. Reinsurance Group of America had a net margin of 5.81% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Reinsurance Group of America will post 29.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reinsurance Group of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This is a boost from Reinsurance Group of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Reinsurance Group of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.22%.

Reinsurance Group of America Company Profile

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE:RGA) is a global provider of life and health reinsurance. The company helps insurance organizations manage mortality, longevity, morbidity and other insurance risks by assuming portions of their business and providing capital, risk-management expertise and specialized underwriting support.

RGA offers traditional reinsurance and financial solutions for individual life insurance, group life and health coverage, retirement and annuity products, long-term care and disability insurance.