RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 1,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 479,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,697,636 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $461,679,000 after buying an additional 415,366 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in RenaissanceRe by 21.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 624,469 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $139,579,000 after acquiring an additional 109,851 shares during the period. Philadelphia Financial Management of San Francisco LLC bought a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe during the third quarter valued at approximately $18,969,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $17,086,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,176,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on RNR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price objective (down previously from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered RenaissanceRe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on RenaissanceRe from $301.00 to $288.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on RenaissanceRe from $229.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RenaissanceRe has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $284.00.

RenaissanceRe Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:RNR traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $257.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,345,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,910. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.71, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $262.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $254.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. RenaissanceRe has a one year low of $203.35 and a one year high of $300.00.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The insurance provider reported $10.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.89 by $2.34. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 28.84% and a return on equity of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 52.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that RenaissanceRe will post 42.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. RenaissanceRe’s payout ratio is currently 2.25%.

About RenaissanceRe

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.