Sciencast Management LP Makes New Investment in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

Sciencast Management LP purchased a new position in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,075 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,512,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 1,587.5% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of RenaissanceRe stock opened at $236.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.66 billion, a PE ratio of 6.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.38. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has a 52-week low of $208.98 and a 52-week high of $300.00. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.08.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 23.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. RenaissanceRe’s payout ratio is currently 4.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on RNR shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Barclays cut shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $282.00 price target (down from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.90.

Insider Transactions at RenaissanceRe

In other 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.