Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $398.09.

EG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Everest Group from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Everest Group from $362.00 to $361.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $410.00 price target (down previously from $420.00) on shares of Everest Group in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Everest Group from $400.00 to $396.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Everest Group from $434.00 to $402.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Everest Group Trading Down 1.5%

EG stock traded down $5.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $334.74. The company had a trading volume of 430,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 393,986. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $345.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $353.06. Everest Group has a 52 week low of $320.00 and a 52 week high of $407.30.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.46 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.89 billion. Everest Group had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 7.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $16.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Everest Group will post 47.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Everest Group's payout ratio is 41.15%.

Insider Transactions at Everest Group

In other Everest Group news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total value of $540,945.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,428,175.77. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Allan Williamson bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $337.97 per share, with a total value of $337,970.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 25,618 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,658,115.46. This represents a 4.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Everest Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in Everest Group by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 1,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the first quarter worth $2,234,000. WBI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Everest Group during the first quarter valued at $303,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Everest Group by 98.9% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 181 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 1,946.0% in the first quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,780 shares of the company's stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,693 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.64% of the company's stock.

Everest Group Company 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.