Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Position in RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in shares of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:RNR) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,511 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after selling 190 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in RenaissanceRe were worth $2,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RNR. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in RenaissanceRe during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 51.3% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 121 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 1,587.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 135 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in RenaissanceRe by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings 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 owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David E. Marra sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.16, for a total transaction of $254,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 79,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,178,270.72. This trade represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on RNR. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of RenaissanceRe in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $318.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $288.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of RenaissanceRe from $265.00 to $245.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of RenaissanceRe from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $284.00 to $234.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.90.

RenaissanceRe Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RNR opened at $239.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $242.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.38. 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 Holdings Ltd. has a 52 week low of $208.98 and a 52 week high of $300.00.

RenaissanceRe (NYSE:RNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The insurance provider reported $8.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.94 by $1.12. RenaissanceRe had a net margin of 15.99% and a return on equity of 23.41%. On average, equities analysts predict that RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will post 26.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

RenaissanceRe Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from RenaissanceRe’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. RenaissanceRe’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.57%.

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.