South Dakota Investment Council Grows Stock Holdings in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its position in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,181 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,871 shares during the quarter. Everest Group comprises 0.7% of South Dakota Investment Council's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. South Dakota Investment Council owned 0.21% of Everest Group worth $36,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Everest Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Tsfg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the fourth quarter worth about $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 79.1% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 154 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the fourth quarter worth about $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.64% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO James Allan Williamson bought 1,000 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $337.97 per share, with a total value of $337,970.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,618 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,658,115.46. The trade was a 4.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Everest Group Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of EG stock traded down $1.35 on Friday, reaching $332.65. 269,573 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,021. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 52 week low of $320.00 and a 52 week high of $407.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $339.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $347.80.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $6.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.46 by ($1.01). Everest Group had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 4.88%. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $16.32 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 47.93 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were issued a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Everest Group's payout ratio is 41.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EG shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $362.00 price target on Everest Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Everest Group from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Everest Group in a report on Friday, June 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $425.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Everest Group from $372.00 to $370.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Everest Group from $400.00 to $396.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $400.83.

About Everest Group

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.