Credit Industriel ET Commercial Boosts Holdings in ProAssurance Corporation $PRA

Key Points

• Credit Industriel ET Commercial increased its stake in ProAssurance by 37.5% in Q4 to 346,854 shares (about $8.38M), making PRA roughly 0.6% of its portfolio and its 22nd largest holding.
• Institutional ownership is high at 85.58%, with multiple funds (Russell, Tower Research, BNP Paribas, Longfellow, Cornerstone) materially adding to positions in recent quarters.
• Analysts hold a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $25 target; PRA trades near $24.66 (market cap $1.27B, PE 25.16) and reported Q1 EPS $0.25 (in line) and revenue $262.6M (above estimates) despite a 3.5% YoY revenue decline.

Credit Industriel ET Commercial grew its position in ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 346,854 shares of the insurance provider's stock after buying an additional 94,579 shares during the period. ProAssurance accounts for approximately 0.6% of Credit Industriel ET Commercial's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Credit Industriel ET Commercial owned 0.67% of ProAssurance worth $8,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 356.2% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,405 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 12,152.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,795 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 271.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,576 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 22.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 95.2% in the 3rd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 6,253 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 3,050 shares during the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PRA. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ProAssurance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ProAssurance from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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 and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $25.00.

ProAssurance Price Performance

ProAssurance stock opened at $24.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 25.16 and a beta of 0.04. ProAssurance Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.72 and a 52-week high of $24.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company's 50 day moving average is $24.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.30.

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The insurance provider reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25. The company had revenue of $262.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.86 million. ProAssurance had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ProAssurance Corporation will post 1.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ProAssurance 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.

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