HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . 292,782 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session’s volume of 142,697 shares.The stock last traded at $97.92 and had previously closed at $97.25.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Compass Point dropped their price objective on HCI Group from $130.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of HCI Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of HCI Group in a report on Monday, September 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, HCI Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.00.

HCI Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.24.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The insurance provider reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.58 by $0.63. The company had revenue of $206.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $196.67 million. HCI Group had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 44.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that HCI Group, Inc. will post 12.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of HCI Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in HCI Group in the first quarter worth $939,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in shares of HCI Group by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 29,844 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 10,693 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 153.6% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,326 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $860,000 after acquiring an additional 5,649 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of HCI Group by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 45,387 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after acquiring an additional 14,086 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of HCI Group by 271.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,783 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 22,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

HCI Group Company Profile

HCI Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs.