ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other research firms have also commented on PRA. Zacks Research upgraded ProAssurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ProAssurance in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ProAssurance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

ProAssurance Stock Performance

Shares of PRA stock opened at $24.61 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $24.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. ProAssurance has a one year low of $22.72 and a one year high of $24.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11 and a beta of 0.02.

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.60. ProAssurance had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The firm had revenue of $269.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ProAssurance will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ProAssurance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 356.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in ProAssurance by 12,152.2% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 2,795 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in ProAssurance by 35.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in ProAssurance by 271.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,576 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 4,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of ProAssurance by 22.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $130,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ProAssurance Company Profile

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.