Short Interest in Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RYAN) Grows By 37.8%

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 37.8% in March to 9,706,908 shares (about 7.7% of the stock), with a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 4.9.
• Director Patrick G. Ryan Jr. purchased 25,500 shares at $39.96 on Feb. 23, raising his holdings to 428,295 shares, and insiders now collectively own 52.03% of the company.
• Wall Street is mixed—MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" with a $51.35 price target while several firms have cut targets; the shares trade around $36.44 with a high P/E (~86.8) and a dividend payout ratio above 120%.

Ryan Specialty Holdings Inc. (NYSE:RYAN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 9,706,908 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the March 15th total of 7,043,522 shares. Approximately 7.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,969,312 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryan Specialty news, Director Patrick G. Ryan, Jr. acquired 25,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $39.96 per share, with a total value of $1,018,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 428,295 shares in the company, valued at $17,114,668.20. The trade was a 6.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 52.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryan Specialty

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of RYAN. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 10.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 59,639 shares of the company's stock worth $4,406,000 after acquiring an additional 5,739 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 25.1% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 46.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 376,154 shares of the company's stock worth $27,787,000 after acquiring an additional 119,055 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Ryan Specialty by 11.3% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 332,823 shares of the company's stock worth $24,586,000 after acquiring an additional 33,667 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Ryan Specialty by 15.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,586 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.82% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ryan Specialty from $56.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Ryan Specialty in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Ryan Specialty from $58.00 to $43.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ryan Specialty from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ryan Specialty from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.35.

Ryan Specialty Stock Performance

RYAN stock traded up $0.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.44. 1,422,422 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,877,987. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. Ryan Specialty has a twelve month low of $31.50 and a twelve month high of $73.46.

Ryan Specialty (NYSE:RYAN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $751.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $777.43 million. Ryan Specialty had a return on equity of 46.41% and a net margin of 7.02%.The company's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ryan Specialty will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryan Specialty Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 24th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Ryan Specialty's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Ryan Specialty's dividend payout ratio is 123.81%.

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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