Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys 16,585 Shares of Everest Group, Ltd. $EG

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Everest Group by 12.4%, owning 149,813 shares valued at approximately $54.4 million after acquiring an additional 16,585 shares in Q1.
• Everest Group declared a $2.00 quarterly dividend, with an annualized payout of $8.00 per share, yielding around 2.3% for shareholders.
• The company reported a strong quarterly earnings performance, with earnings per share of $17.36, surpassing estimates by $2.22, and a revenue of $4.49 billion, up 6.2% year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,813 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,585 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.35% of Everest Group worth $54,432,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EG. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Everest Group by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the company's stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Everest Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,236,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Everest Group by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Everest Group by 317.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 18,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,575,000 after acquiring an additional 13,794 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Everest Group by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 47,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,410,000 after acquiring an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.64% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO James Allan Williamson bought 1,000 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $337.97 per share, for a total transaction of $337,970.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 25,618 shares in the company, valued at $8,658,115.46. The trade was a 4.06% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Everest Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE EG traded up $4.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $343.57. The stock had a trading volume of 252,107 shares, compared to its average volume of 329,984. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 12 month low of $320.00 and a 12 month high of $407.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $335.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $343.43.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $17.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $15.14 by $2.22. Everest Group had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $16.85 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 47.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 3rd will be paid a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 3rd. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Everest Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EG. Evercore ISI dropped 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 research report on Thursday, May 1st. Janney Montgomery Scott started 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. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Everest Group in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $362.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Everest Group from $394.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Everest Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $397.14.

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.