Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE:RGA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (NYSE:RGA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 421,300 shares, a growth of 35.7% from the February 13th total of 310,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 504,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Reinsurance Group of America Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Reinsurance Group of America stock traded up $1.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $192.82. 371,596 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 376,550. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.95 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $209.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.78. Reinsurance Group of America has a 12-month low of $178.84 and a 12-month high of $233.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.17.

Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The insurance provider reported $4.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.22 by ($0.23). Reinsurance Group of America had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 3.24%. As a group, analysts forecast that Reinsurance Group of America will post 22.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Reinsurance Group of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Reinsurance Group of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reinsurance Group of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,213,971 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,541,121,000 after acquiring an additional 51,733 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,640,788 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,205,042,000 after purchasing an additional 564,693 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,480,750 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $526,911,000 after purchasing an additional 33,082 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 389.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,123,022 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $239,911,000 after purchasing an additional 893,537 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Reinsurance Group of America by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,113,872 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $238,031,000 after purchasing an additional 4,106 shares during the period. 95.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on RGA. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $280.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $255.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $245.00 to $233.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Reinsurance Group of America in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $252.00 to $242.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.85.

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.