Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 176 Shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its stake in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Everest Group were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in Everest Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Everest Group by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Everest Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Everest Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Institutional investors own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EG shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Everest Group from $470.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Everest Group from $402.00 to $397.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Everest Group from $457.00 to $454.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Everest Group from $450.00 to $445.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $437.40.

Everest Group Stock Performance

Shares of EG traded up $9.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $382.93. The stock had a trading volume of 332,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 311,841. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $381.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $377.66. The firm has a market cap of $16.64 billion, a PE ratio of 5.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.63. Everest Group, Ltd. has a one year low of $343.36 and a one year high of $417.92.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $16.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $15.98 by $0.34. Everest Group had a return on equity of 24.86% and a net margin of 18.69%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $11.31 earnings per share. Everest Group’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 61.25 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. This is an increase from Everest Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.89%.

Everest Group Profile

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.