Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on RGA. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Reinsurance Group of America from $238.00 to $236.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James increased their price target on Reinsurance Group of America from $228.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays assumed coverage on Reinsurance Group of America in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an overweight rating and a $255.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Reinsurance Group of America from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Reinsurance Group of America from $236.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Reinsurance Group of America has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $225.17.

Reinsurance Group of America Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE RGA opened at $217.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 0.91. Reinsurance Group of America has a 1-year low of $140.39 and a 1-year high of $227.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $213.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $205.00.

Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The insurance provider reported $5.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.94 by $0.54. The firm had revenue of $4.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.07 billion. Reinsurance Group of America had a return on equity of 15.84% and a net margin of 4.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.40 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Reinsurance Group of America will post 21.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reinsurance Group of America Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. This is a positive change from Reinsurance Group of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Reinsurance Group of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Reinsurance Group of America news, EVP William L. Hutton sold 1,209 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.97, for a total value of $264,734.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,705,812.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Reinsurance Group of America

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 1.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,628,129 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $539,476,000 after purchasing an additional 50,228 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 5.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 825,719 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $169,497,000 after purchasing an additional 45,709 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 2.8% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 584,137 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $112,668,000 after purchasing an additional 15,926 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Reinsurance Group of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,083,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 681.8% in the second quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 507,840 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $104,244,000 after acquiring an additional 442,883 shares in the last quarter. 95.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Reinsurance Group of America

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated engages in reinsurance business. The company offers individual and group life and health insurance products, such as term life, credit life, universal life, whole life, group life and health, joint and last survivor insurance, critical illness, disability, and longevity products; asset-intensive and financial reinsurance products; and other capital motivated solutions.