RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR - Free Report) by 85.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,053 shares of the insurance provider's stock after selling 17,271 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in RenaissanceRe were worth $760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in RenaissanceRe by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,882,835 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $717,278,000 after acquiring an additional 233,708 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,013,382 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $500,991,000 after purchasing an additional 446,781 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,880,166 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $466,969,000 after purchasing an additional 182,530 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its stake in RenaissanceRe by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,298,190 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $323,003,000 after buying an additional 69,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in RenaissanceRe by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,144,805 shares of the insurance provider's stock worth $284,907,000 after buying an additional 223,991 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $279.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $277.00 to $271.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $234.00 to $231.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $283.60.

Insider Activity at RenaissanceRe

In related news, CAO James Christopher Fraser sold 332 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.54, for a total transaction of $82,847.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,776,009.16. The trade was a 1.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

RenaissanceRe Stock Performance

NYSE RNR traded up $4.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $249.63. 584,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 433,882. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has a 12-month low of $208.98 and a 12-month high of $300.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $240.96 and a 200 day moving average of $247.52. The company has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported ($1.49) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($1.17). RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.99%. The business had revenue of $3.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $12.18 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current year.

RenaissanceRe Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. RenaissanceRe's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.10%.

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.