RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup has initiated coverage on RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) with a "buy" rating and a price target of $288.00, indicating a potential upside of 20.03% from the stock's prior close.
• RenaissanceRe's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $12.29, beating estimates but reflecting a 2.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Institutional investors hold 99.97% of RenaissanceRe's stock, with several hedge funds significantly increasing their holdings in the second quarter.

Research analysts at Citigroup began coverage on shares of RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $288.00 price target on the insurance provider's stock. Citigroup's price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.81% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $285.00 to $280.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of RenaissanceRe from $268.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $256.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $282.09.

RenaissanceRe Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE RNR traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $242.41. 244,595 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 476,974. RenaissanceRe has a 12-month low of $219.00 and a 12-month high of $300.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $241.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $240.21. The firm has a market cap of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.29.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The insurance provider reported $12.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $10.28 by $2.01. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 15.00%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $12.41 earnings per share. RenaissanceRe's quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that RenaissanceRe will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On RenaissanceRe

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 817,247 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $203,339,000 after buying an additional 124,125 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the first quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc purchased a new stake in shares of RenaissanceRe during the first quarter valued at approximately $348,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of RenaissanceRe by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 10,715 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $2,666,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in RenaissanceRe by 21.9% during the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,020 shares of the insurance provider's stock valued at $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.97% of the company's stock.

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.