Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Price Target to $294.00

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Free Report) had its price target cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $318.00 to $294.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the insurance provider's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered RenaissanceRe from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $279.90.

RenaissanceRe Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of RenaissanceRe stock traded up $6.59 on Tuesday, reaching $240.59. The company had a trading volume of 628,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 599,459. The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $256.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.49. RenaissanceRe has a 1 year low of $208.98 and a 1 year high of $300.00.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 23.41%. As a group, research analysts predict that RenaissanceRe will post 33.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from RenaissanceRe's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. RenaissanceRe's payout ratio is currently 4.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total transaction of $254,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of RenaissanceRe

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in RenaissanceRe by 23.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 342 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the 2nd quarter worth $229,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in RenaissanceRe by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 12,300 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in RenaissanceRe by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 959 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $261,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenfield Savings Bank purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the third quarter valued at about $230,000. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.