Renasant (NYSE:RNST) Vice Chairman C Mitchell Waycaster Sells 12,704 Shares

Renasant Corp (NYSE:RNST) Vice Chairman C Mitchell Waycaster sold 12,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.50, for a total value of $501,808.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 183,235 shares in the company, valued at $7,237,782.50. This trade represents a 6.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Renasant Price Performance

NYSE RNST traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.98. 487,398 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 709,264. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.01. Renasant Corp has a 52 week low of $33.04 and a 52 week high of $42.11.

Renasant (NYSE:RNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Renasant had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 14.47%.The firm had revenue of $278.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $275.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Renasant Corp will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Renasant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Renasant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Renasant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on RNST. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Renasant from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Renasant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Renasant in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Renasant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have assigned a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Renasant

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Renasant by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,413,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,697,000 after acquiring an additional 23,337 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Renasant by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,812,696 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,920,000 after acquiring an additional 595,609 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Renasant by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,089,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,801,000 after acquiring an additional 126,405 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Renasant by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,229,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,263,000 after acquiring an additional 14,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Renasant by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 2,225,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,383,000 after acquiring an additional 576,986 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.31% of the company’s stock.

About Renasant

Renasant Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Renasant Bank that provides a range of financial, wealth management, fiduciary, and insurance services to retail and commercial customers. It operates through three segments: Community Banks, Insurance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banks segment offers checking and savings accounts, business and personal loans, asset-based lending, and equipment leasing services, as well as safe deposit and night depository facilities. It also provides commercial, financial, and agricultural loans; equipment financing and leasing; real estate?1-4 family mortgage; real estate?commercial mortgage; real estate?construction loans for the construction of single family residential properties, multi-family properties, and commercial projects; installment loans to individuals; and interim construction loans, as well as automated teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, call center, and treasury management services.