Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts Everest Group (NYSE:EG) Price Target to $457.00

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) had its price target increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $445.00 to $457.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EG. Citigroup cut shares of Everest Group from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $452.00 to $375.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Everest Group from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $484.00 to $402.00 in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Everest Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. They set a market perform rating and a $421.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Everest Group in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. They set an inline rating and a $431.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Everest Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $435.44.

Everest Group Stock Performance

Shares of Everest Group stock opened at $361.81 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Everest Group has a twelve month low of $331.08 and a twelve month high of $417.92. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $376.91 and its 200 day moving average is $380.78.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $25.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $14.63 by $10.55. The company had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.85 billion. Everest Group had a net margin of 17.26% and a return on equity of 25.05%. Everest Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $12.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Everest Group will post 61.21 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $1.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $7.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Roger M. Singer acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $357.21 per share, for a total transaction of $178,605.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 16,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,043,993.20. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Roger M. Singer acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $357.21 per share, for a total transaction of $178,605.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 16,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,043,993.20. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Kociancic acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $349.00 per share, with a total value of $349,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 25,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,980,817. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 2,485 shares of company stock worth $874,786 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,886,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $751,457,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $373,130,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,804,000. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in Everest Group in the 4th quarter valued at $328,064,000. 92.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Everest Group

Everest Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company operates through two segment, Insurance and Reinsurance. The Reinsurance segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.