Citigroup Upgrades Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA) to “Buy”

Citigroup upgraded shares of Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA – Get Rating) from a sell rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $158.00 price target on the insurance provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $133.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Reinsurance Group of America from an in-line rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the company from $148.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Reinsurance Group of America from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating and increased their target price for the company from $145.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Reinsurance Group of America from $147.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Reinsurance Group of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $155.56.

Reinsurance Group of America Trading Down 5.2 %

RGA opened at $121.97 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $144.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.28. Reinsurance Group of America has a 1-year low of $100.88 and a 1-year high of $153.35. The company has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE:RGA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 3rd. The insurance provider reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.51 by ($0.52). Reinsurance Group of America had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company had revenue of $4.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.56) EPS. Reinsurance Group of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Reinsurance Group of America will post 15.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Reinsurance Group of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 14th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 13th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Reinsurance Group of America’s payout ratio is 34.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Reinsurance Group of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RGA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 27.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 132,902 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $14,548,000 after acquiring an additional 28,536 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,817 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 39,323 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $4,428,000 after purchasing an additional 4,073 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Reinsurance Group of America by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,421 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Reinsurance Group of America by 47.8% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 368 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.46% of the company’s stock.

About Reinsurance Group of America

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Reinsurance Group of America, Inc is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America, Canada, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Corporate and Other.