Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Position in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its stake in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 460,233 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,642 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.06% of Everest Group worth $175,358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Everest Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,886,055,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Everest Group in the 4th quarter worth $751,457,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Everest Group by 29.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,197,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $475,750,000 after purchasing an additional 269,665 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Everest Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $373,130,000. Finally, Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Everest Group by 5.3% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 906,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,175,000 after purchasing an additional 45,705 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on EG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Everest Group from $454.00 to $438.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Everest Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $527.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Everest Group from $392.00 to $393.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Everest Group from $450.00 to $445.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $403.00 target price on shares of Everest Group in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $438.09.

Everest Group Price Performance

NYSE EG opened at $387.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.76, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $380.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $379.51. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 1 year low of $343.76 and a 1 year high of $417.92.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $16.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $16.97 by ($0.12). Everest Group had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 24.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $15.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 61.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Everest Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $2.00 per share. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.89%.

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.