RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,690,000 shares, a decline of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 1,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 479,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at RenaissanceRe

In other RenaissanceRe news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was 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 owns 79,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in RenaissanceRe during the third quarter valued at $30,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 51.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 316.7% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 125 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in RenaissanceRe by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 180 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RNR has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $301.00 to $288.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays lowered shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $284.00 to $234.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on RenaissanceRe from $310.00 to $318.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded RenaissanceRe from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, RenaissanceRe presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $284.00.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

Shares of RNR traded up $2.07 on Thursday, reaching $257.07. 405,257 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 481,036. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $262.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $254.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. RenaissanceRe has a 52-week low of $203.35 and a 52-week high of $300.00. The stock has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 3.70, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.44.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The insurance provider reported $10.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.89 by $2.34. The firm had revenue of $2.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 26.31% and a net margin of 28.84%. The business’s revenue was up 52.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.33 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe will post 42.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. RenaissanceRe’s payout ratio is 2.25%.

About RenaissanceRe

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.