Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on RGA. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Reinsurance Group of America from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays started coverage on Reinsurance Group of America in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an overweight rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Reinsurance Group of America from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Reinsurance Group of America from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Reinsurance Group of America from $225.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $225.17.

Reinsurance Group of America Stock Performance

Shares of Reinsurance Group of America stock opened at $217.87 on Friday. Reinsurance Group of America has a one year low of $140.39 and a one year high of $227.87. The company has a market cap of $14.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $213.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $205.00.

Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The insurance provider reported $5.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.94 by $0.54. Reinsurance Group of America had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Reinsurance Group of America will post 21.7 EPS for the current year.

Reinsurance Group of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. This is an increase from Reinsurance Group of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Reinsurance Group of America’s payout ratio is 27.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP William L. Hutton sold 1,209 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.97, for a total value of $264,734.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,705,812.29. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Reinsurance Group of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Reinsurance Group of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,925,000. Maven Securities LTD purchased a new stake in Reinsurance Group of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,763 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,646,000 after acquiring an additional 1,672 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Reinsurance Group of America during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,056 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. 95.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Reinsurance Group of America Company Profile

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated engages in reinsurance business. The company offers individual and group life and health insurance products, such as term life, credit life, universal life, whole life, group life and health, joint and last survivor insurance, critical illness, disability, and longevity products; asset-intensive and financial reinsurance products; and other capital motivated solutions.