RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Shares Sold by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in RenaissanceRe were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,880,166 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $466,969,000 after acquiring an additional 182,530 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 920,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $250,892,000 after acquiring an additional 25,773 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 142,313 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $35,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Nepsis Inc. increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. Nepsis Inc. now owns 128,983 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,092,000 after acquiring an additional 31,915 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 83,483 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $20,771,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the last quarter. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on RNR shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 price objective (down previously from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays lowered shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $279.90.

RenaissanceRe Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of RenaissanceRe stock opened at $239.53 on Wednesday. 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 moving average of $242.98 and a 200 day moving average of $257.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.38.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. RenaissanceRe’s payout ratio is currently 4.57%.

Insider Transactions at RenaissanceRe

In other news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe 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.