Merit Financial Group LLC Invests $512,000 in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $512,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EG. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the 4th quarter valued at $488,588,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC lifted its stake in Everest Group by 279.1% during the fourth quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 978,713 shares of the company's stock worth $354,768,000 after purchasing an additional 720,572 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Everest Group by 11,756.0% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 278,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $100,987,000 after purchasing an additional 276,266 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in Everest Group by 14,518.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 190,040 shares of the company's stock worth $68,882,000 after buying an additional 188,740 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Everest Group by 31,899.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 174,398 shares of the company's stock worth $63,364,000 after buying an additional 173,853 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.64% of the company's stock.

Everest Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of EG stock traded up $1.46 during trading on Thursday, hitting $336.76. 56,703 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 390,972. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $320.00 and a 52-week high of $407.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $345.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $353.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

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

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 28th. Everest Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total transaction of $540,945.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,428,175.77. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on EG shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Everest Group from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Everest Group from $470.00 to $394.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Everest Group from $375.00 to $372.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Everest Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $376.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $398.09.

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.