Renasant (NASDAQ:RNST) Shares Up 3.6% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Renasant Co. (NASDAQ:RNST) shot up 3.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $34.12 and last traded at $34.09. 95,711 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 392,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RNST has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Renasant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Renasant from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stephens raised shares of Renasant from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Renasant from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Renasant from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

Renasant Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.80 and a 200 day moving average of $31.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Renasant (NASDAQ:RNST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $163.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $166.05 million. Renasant had a return on equity of 6.98% and a net margin of 15.04%. Renasant’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Renasant Co. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Renasant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. Renasant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Renasant

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Renasant by 22.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 168,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,276,000 after purchasing an additional 30,630 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Renasant by 74.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 41,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 17,836 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Renasant in the first quarter worth $4,124,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Renasant by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 830,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,978,000 after purchasing an additional 38,036 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Renasant by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,416,896 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,121,000 after purchasing an additional 16,417 shares during the last quarter. 77.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Renasant

Renasant Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Renasant Bank that provides a range of financial, wealth management, fiduciary, and insurance services to retail and commercial customers. The company operates through Community Banks, Insurance, and Wealth Management segments. The Community Banks segment offers checking and savings accounts, business and personal loans, asset-based lending, and factoring equipment leasing services, as well as safe deposit and night depository facilities.