Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,174 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Everest Group were worth $5,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Everest Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $488,588,000. Vulcan Value Partners LLC grew its stake in Everest Group by 279.1% during the fourth quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 978,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,768,000 after acquiring an additional 720,572 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Everest Group by 11,756.0% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 278,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,987,000 after acquiring an additional 276,266 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Everest Group by 14,518.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 190,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,882,000 after acquiring an additional 188,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in Everest Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,341,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Everest Group

In related news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total transaction of $540,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,279 shares in the company, valued at $4,428,175.77. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Everest Group Price Performance

Shares of Everest Group stock opened at $348.22 on Friday. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $320.00 and a 52-week high of $407.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $351.38 and a 200-day moving average of $356.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.46 by ($1.01). Everest Group had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $16.32 EPS. Everest Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 47.93 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on EG. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Everest Group from $375.00 to $372.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Everest Group from $400.00 to $396.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Everest Group from $470.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Everest Group from $362.00 to $361.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Everest Group from $434.00 to $402.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Everest Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.18.

Everest Group Company Profile

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.