Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 264 Shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,225 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Everest Group were worth $1,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Everest Group by 5.5% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $483,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Everest Group during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Everest Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

Everest Group Stock Down 0.1 %

EG stock opened at $372.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $380.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $375.32. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 12 month low of $343.36 and a 12 month high of $417.92. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.63.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $16.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $15.98 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Everest Group had a net margin of 18.69% and a return on equity of 24.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $11.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 61.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Everest Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This is a boost from Everest Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.75. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 29th. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on EG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Everest Group from $445.00 to $457.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Everest Group from $466.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Everest Group from $402.00 to $397.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Everest Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.11.

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.