RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $219.25, but opened at $234.17. RenaissanceRe shares last traded at $225.28, with a volume of 59,866 shares.

The insurance provider reported $12.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.86 by $2.32. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 26.93% and a net margin of 28.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 41.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.16 EPS.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio is 3.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on RNR shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on RenaissanceRe from $216.00 to $218.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on RenaissanceRe from $237.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on RenaissanceRe in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on RenaissanceRe from $229.00 to $238.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on RenaissanceRe from $216.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.00.

Insider Activity at RenaissanceRe

In other RenaissanceRe news, CFO Robert Qutub sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $586,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,518,653.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Robert Qutub sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.56, for a total value of $586,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,518,653.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carol P. Sanders sold 880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.59, for a total value of $200,279.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,363 shares in the company, valued at $1,220,565.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNR. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 548,496 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $108,558,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 16,915 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after purchasing an additional 8,281 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 20,913 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $4,139,000 after purchasing an additional 6,456 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,937 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,553,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 146.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 18,111 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,609,000 after purchasing an additional 10,752 shares during the period. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.34. The stock has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

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.