Wall Street Zen Upgrades ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) to Hold

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PRA. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ProAssurance in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ProAssurance from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ProAssurance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.00.

ProAssurance Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE PRA opened at $24.57 on Friday. ProAssurance has a 1 year low of $14.49 and a 1 year high of $24.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.26 and its 200 day moving average is $24.07.

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 23rd. The insurance provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $269.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.08 million. ProAssurance had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 4.64%.The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that ProAssurance will post 0.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProAssurance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alpine Associates Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 73.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 952,547 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $22,852,000 after buying an additional 403,807 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ProAssurance by 158.7% during the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 84,790 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after buying an additional 52,012 shares during the last quarter. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P bought a new stake in ProAssurance in the third quarter worth $7,007,000. Olympiad Research LP grew its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 79.1% in the second quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 85,874 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,961,000 after acquiring an additional 37,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 1,750.0% in the second quarter. Mint Tower Capital Management B.V. now owns 37,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 35,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.58% of the company’s stock.

About ProAssurance

ProAssurance Corporation is a specialty property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. The company focuses primarily on professional liability coverage for healthcare providers, including physicians, surgeons, dentists and allied health professionals. ProAssurance operates through a group of insurance subsidiaries that underwrite both occurrence- and claims-made policies tailored to the unique risks faced by the medical community.

In addition to professional liability insurance, ProAssurance offers a suite of complementary property and casualty products, such as general liability, workers’ compensation, property and inland marine, and umbrella coverage.