ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $24.69 and last traded at $24.6150, with a volume of 128492 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.47.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PRA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ProAssurance in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ProAssurance to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ProAssurance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProAssurance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PRA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ProAssurance by 356.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in ProAssurance by 12,152.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ProAssurance by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 1,115 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in ProAssurance by 271.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,576 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of ProAssurance by 22.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

ProAssurance Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 0.09.

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.60. ProAssurance had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 4.64%.The company had revenue of $269.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.08 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that ProAssurance Corporation will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

About ProAssurance

ProAssurance Corporation is a specialty property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The company focuses primarily on professional liability coverage for healthcare providers, including physicians, surgeons, dentists and allied health professionals. ProAssurance operates through a group of insurance subsidiaries that underwrite both occurrence- and claims-made policies tailored to the unique risks faced by the medical community.

In addition to professional liability insurance, ProAssurance offers a suite of complementary property and casualty products, such as general liability, workers’ compensation, property and inland marine, and umbrella coverage.