Everest Group (NYSE:EG) Upgraded at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Everest Group (NYSE:EG) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $453.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $372.00.

EG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Everest Group from $496.00 to $485.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Everest Group from $444.00 to $419.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Everest Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $420.00 to $429.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Everest Group from $402.00 to $390.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Everest Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Everest Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $436.56.

Everest Group Stock Performance

EG opened at $353.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $368.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $376.99. Everest Group has a 1 year low of $343.76 and a 1 year high of $407.30. The company has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 5.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.65.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 27th were given a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. Everest Group’s payout ratio is currently 12.52%.

Insider Transactions at Everest Group

In related news, EVP Mike Karmilowicz sold 269 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $348.48, for a total transaction of $93,741.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,434,756.48. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO James Allan Williamson sold 200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.00, for a total value of $74,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,553,330. This trade represents a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Everest Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Everest Group in the second quarter worth about $601,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Everest Group by 66.6% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 34,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,240,000 after acquiring an additional 13,891 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Everest Group by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Everest Group during the second quarter worth $90,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 19.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,028,000 after acquiring an additional 17,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.64% of the company’s stock.

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.