StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on RE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Everest Re Group from $408.00 to $426.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Everest Re Group from $385.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Everest Re Group from $320.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Everest Re Group in a research report on Thursday, January 19th. They set a market perform rating and a $380.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Everest Re Group currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $382.00.

Everest Re Group Stock Performance

RE opened at $334.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.32 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $362.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.93. Everest Re Group has a 1-year low of $244.57 and a 1-year high of $394.99.

Everest Re Group (NYSE:RE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 8th. The insurance provider reported $12.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.29 by $2.92. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. Everest Re Group had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 4.96%. The company’s revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $9.12 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Everest Re Group will post 45.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Everest Re Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th will be given a $1.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 15th. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Everest Re Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Everest Re Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Everest Re Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,906,545 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,287,673,000 after purchasing an additional 55,341 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Everest Re Group by 0.3% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,811,152 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $737,759,000 after buying an additional 8,589 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Everest Re Group by 7.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,587,523 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $681,939,000 after buying an additional 181,309 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Everest Re Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,049,747 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $617,753,000 after acquiring an additional 86,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Everest Re Group by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,283,272 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $425,110,000 after purchasing an additional 95,013 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.38% of the company’s stock.

About Everest Re Group

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Everest Re Group Ltd. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of reinsurance and insurance services. It operates through the following segments: Reinsurance, and Insurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance and specialty lines of business, including marine, aviation, surety, and accident and health business, on both a treaty and facultative basis, through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies primarily within the U.S.