Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI) Downgraded to "Strong Sell" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Old Republic International to a “Strong Sell” from Hold, even though MarketBeat’s aggregated data shows a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with an average target price of $42, highlighting mixed analyst views.
• Old Republic reported Q1 EPS of $0.68 versus a $0.79 estimate (an EPS miss), while revenue was $2.40 billion—slightly above estimates and up 6.7% year‑over‑year.
• There were offsetting insider moves (an SVP sold shares while a director bought) and rising institutional ownership—institutions now own about 70.9% of the stock, with Goldman Sachs holding ~1.59 million shares—showing notable investor activity.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Old Republic International from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Old Republic International from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $44.00 target price on Old Republic International in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.00.

Old Republic International Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ORI opened at $40.01 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 0.72. Old Republic International has a 1-year low of $35.60 and a 1-year high of $46.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.13.

Old Republic International (NYSE:ORI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Old Republic International had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 15.71%. Old Republic International's quarterly revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Old Republic International will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Carolyn Monroe sold 5,526 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.28, for a total transaction of $217,061.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,094,930. The trade was a 16.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Eric Smith bought 1,135 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $43.10 per share, for a total transaction of $48,918.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,276 shares of the company's stock, valued at $184,295.60. This trade represents a 36.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 1.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ORI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Old Republic International by 30.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,157 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Old Republic International by 121.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,069 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $944,000 after buying an additional 13,224 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Old Republic International by 122.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,534 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 2,493 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Old Republic International by 10.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,593,065 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $62,480,000 after buying an additional 148,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Old Republic International by 31.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,414 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $323,000 after buying an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.92% of the company's stock.

About Old Republic International

Old Republic International Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in the insurance underwriting and related services business primarily in the United States and Canada. It operates through three segments: General Insurance, Title Insurance, and Republic Financial Indemnity Group Run-off Business. The General Insurance segment offers aviation, commercial auto, commercial multi-peril, commercial property, general liability, home and auto warranty, inland marine, travel accident, and workers' compensation insurance products; and financial indemnity products for specialty coverages, including errors and omissions, fidelity, directors and officers, and surety.

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