RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Trading 6.8% Higher - Should You Buy?

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) shares traded up 6.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $237.12 and last traded at $235.39. 210,472 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 413,015 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on RNR. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised RenaissanceRe from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $284.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $277.00 to $271.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $280.80.

RenaissanceRe Stock Up 2.5 %

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $236.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $254.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 EPS for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This is an increase from RenaissanceRe's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. RenaissanceRe's dividend payout ratio is currently 4.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of RenaissanceRe 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RNR. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,882,835 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $717,278,000 after purchasing an additional 233,708 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,013,382 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $500,991,000 after acquiring an additional 446,781 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in RenaissanceRe by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,880,166 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $466,969,000 after acquiring an additional 182,530 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in RenaissanceRe by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,298,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $323,003,000 after acquiring an additional 69,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,144,805 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $284,907,000 after acquiring an additional 223,991 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is 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.