Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,350 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Everest Group were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Everest Group by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in Everest Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Everest Group by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Everest Group by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Everest Group by 127.3% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,272 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Everest Group Price Performance

Shares of EG opened at $334.74 on Friday. Everest Group, Ltd. has a 52 week low of $320.00 and a 52 week high of $407.30. The firm has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $345.89 and a 200-day moving average of $353.06.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $6.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.46 by ($1.01). Everest Group had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 9.04%. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $16.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 47.93 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Everest Group from $362.00 to $361.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Everest Group from $470.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Everest Group from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Everest Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Everest Group from $400.00 to $396.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.09.

Insider Activity at Everest Group

In other Everest Group news, Director Geraldine Losquadro sold 1,500 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.63, for a total transaction of $540,945.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,428,175.77. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Allan Williamson bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $337.97 per share, for a total transaction of $337,970.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 25,618 shares in the company, valued at $8,658,115.46. This represents a 4.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Everest Group Company Profile

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.