Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has been downgraded from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, impacting general investor sentiment.
• Several analysts have increased their target prices for the company, with Barclays setting it at $64.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods at $72.00, indicating a varied outlook among analysts.
• Skyward Specialty Insurance reported earnings of $0.89 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates, but its revenue fell slightly short of expectations at $319.90 million.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SKWD. Barclays raised their target price on Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 29th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group from $69.00 to $59.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.88.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group Stock Performance

Shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group stock opened at $49.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $56.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $53.45. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group has a twelve month low of $34.10 and a twelve month high of $65.05.

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SKWD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $319.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $324.64 million. Skyward Specialty Insurance Group had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 16.84%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Skyward Specialty Insurance Group will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

In other news, CFO Mark W. Haushill sold 52,748 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.76, for a total transaction of $3,099,472.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 133,629 shares in the company, valued at $7,852,040.04. The trade was a 28.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kirby Hill sold 8,249 shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total value of $502,116.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 8,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $502,116.63. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.01% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in the 1st quarter valued at $631,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at about $544,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 6,374.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 17,402 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,280,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Skyward Specialty Insurance Group by 17.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,798 shares of the company's stock worth $4,911,000 after buying an additional 13,635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.83% of the company's stock.

About Skyward Specialty Insurance Group

Skyward Specialty Insurance Group, Inc, an insurance holding company, underwrites commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. It offers general liability, excess liability, professional liability, commercial auto, group accident and health, property, surety, and workers' compensation insurance products.

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