RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Short Interest Down 20.1% in February

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, a decline of 20.1% from the February 13th total of 1,740,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 523,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 79,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 10.8% in 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 period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,684,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 80,773 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,003,000 after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 920,814 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $250,892,000 after acquiring an additional 25,773 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 367.4% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 30,476 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $8,302,000 after acquiring an additional 23,956 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

Shares of RNR stock traded down $4.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $240.74. 344,958 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,132. The company has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $241.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.46. RenaissanceRe has a 1 year low of $208.98 and a 1 year high of $300.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last issued its 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 return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.99%. Equities research analysts anticipate that RenaissanceRe will post 26.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. This is an increase from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is 4.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 target price (down from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays cut RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $280.00 to $284.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.90.

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.