Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Takes Position in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,300 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,568,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 13,100 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,851 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,991 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2,420.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,008 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in RenaissanceRe by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,610 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $282.00 target price (down previously from $304.00) on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays downgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $318.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of RenaissanceRe stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total value of $254,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at $20,178,270.72. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

RNR stock opened at $230.55 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $247.43 and a 200-day moving average of $257.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has a 12 month low of $208.98 and a 12 month high of $300.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.43.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 23.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.45%.

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.