Lazard Asset Management LLC Trims Position in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) by 18.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 21,225 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 4,956 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in RenaissanceRe were worth $5,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 57.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 22,923 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $6,244,000 after buying an additional 8,333 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of RenaissanceRe by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of RenaissanceRe by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,811 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in RenaissanceRe by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 175 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 99.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

RenaissanceRe Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of RNR stock opened at $242.88 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $249.29. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $208.98 and a 52 week high of $300.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.94, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The insurance provider reported ($1.49) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($1.17). The firm had revenue of $3.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. RenaissanceRe had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 15.99%. RenaissanceRe’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $12.18 earnings per share. Analysts predict that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO James Christopher Fraser sold 332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.54, for a total transaction of $82,847.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 27,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,776,009.16. This represents a 1.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on RNR shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on RenaissanceRe from $234.00 to $231.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $284.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $437.00 to $426.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of RenaissanceRe from $277.00 to $271.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, RenaissanceRe presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.60.

RenaissanceRe Company Profile

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.