Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) Downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Hold”

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $59.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $62.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.32% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SKWD. Truist Financial increased their target price on Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SKWD opened at $52.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.63. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has a one year low of $33.27 and a one year high of $55.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.50.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 16.39%. The company had revenue of $304.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $295.56 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Skyward Specialty Insurance Group will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Skyward Specialty Insurance Group news, insider Thomas N. Schmitt sold 6,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.92, for a total value of $327,096.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,946 shares in the company, valued at $204,876.32. This trade represents a 61.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider John A. Burkhart III sold 4,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.24, for a total value of $242,759.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 17,655 shares in the company, valued at $886,987.20. This trade represents a 21.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,132 shares of company stock valued at $620,476. Corporate insiders own 8.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 277.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 64,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,608,000 after buying an additional 47,081 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 49.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 104,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,240,000 after acquiring an additional 34,612 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 32.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 86,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,515,000 after purchasing an additional 21,346 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 10.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 844,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,386,000 after purchasing an additional 82,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $676,000. Institutional investors own 94.83% of the company’s stock.

About Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc, an insurance holding company, underwrites commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It offers general liability, excess liability, professional liability, commercial auto, group accident and health, property, surety, and workers' compensation insurance products.