Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stake in Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. $RYAN

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its Ryan Specialty stake by 23.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 58,100 shares and leaving it with 191,634 shares valued at about $9.9 million.
• Insiders have been buying shares, including Director John W. Rogers, Jr. and Chairman Patrick G. Ryan, who together bought more than 127,000 shares in recent transactions. Insiders now own about 52% of the company.
• Ryan Specialty reported solid quarterly results and returned capital, beating EPS and revenue estimates, approving a $300 million share repurchase program, and paying a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share.

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado reduced its holdings in shares of Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RYAN - Free Report) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,634 shares of the company's stock after selling 58,100 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.07% of Ryan Specialty worth $9,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RYAN. Vulcan Value Partners LLC increased its stake in Ryan Specialty by 631.7% during the 4th quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 4,621,079 shares of the company's stock worth $238,536,000 after buying an additional 3,989,502 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Ryan Specialty during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $95,798,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Ryan Specialty by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,066,011 shares of the company's stock worth $172,800,000 after buying an additional 1,332,773 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ryan Specialty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,546,000. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in Ryan Specialty during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,506,000. 84.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryan Specialty news, Director John W. Rogers, Jr. acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $35.16 per share, with a total value of $263,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 117,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,146,524.28. This trade represents a 6.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Patrick G. Ryan acquired 120,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.50 per share, for a total transaction of $3,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 13,817,859 shares in the company, valued at $449,080,417.50. The trade was a 0.88% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 130,715 shares of company stock valued at $4,263,590. Insiders own 52.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on RYAN. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty from $43.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ryan Specialty in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Ryan Specialty from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ryan Specialty currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.12.

Ryan Specialty Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Ryan Specialty stock opened at $35.35 on Tuesday. Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.28 and a 1 year high of $69.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.91, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.64. The company's fifty day moving average is $33.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.56.

Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.04. Ryan Specialty had a net margin of 8.21% and a return on equity of 41.33%. The company had revenue of $795.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.44 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Ryan Specialty's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryan Specialty announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 26th that permits the company to repurchase $300.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Ryan Specialty Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Ryan Specialty's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.53%.

Ryan Specialty Company Profile

Ryan Specialty Group, Inc NYSE: RYAN is a global specialty insurance and reinsurance platform that partners with a network of insurers and reinsurers to deliver tailored risk solutions. The company focuses on complex and large-scale risks across multiple industry sectors, leveraging its underwriting expertise to structure coverage programs that meet clients' unique needs.

Ryan Specialty's core offerings span a diverse range of specialty lines, including casualty, property, professional liability, marine and energy, program administration, and sports and entertainment.

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