Morgan Stanley Cuts RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Price Target to $245.00

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $265.00 to $245.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on RNR. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price target (down previously from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $364.00 to $391.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $229.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, RenaissanceRe currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $283.45.

RenaissanceRe Stock Down 2.5 %

RNR stock opened at $232.52 on Friday. RenaissanceRe has a 12 month low of $208.98 and a 12 month high of $300.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The company has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.64, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $259.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.59.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 15.99%. As a group, analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 34.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of RenaissanceRe

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RNR. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in RenaissanceRe by 1,066.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 11,661 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 10,661 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 5.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,487 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $10,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,459 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,186,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 23.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 342 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the 2nd quarter valued at about $229,000. 99.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.