HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on HCI. Compass Point raised shares of HCI Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of HCI Group from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.25.

HCI Group Price Performance

HCI stock opened at $141.04 on Friday. HCI Group has a 12 month low of $88.00 and a 12 month high of $176.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $147.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 1.24.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The insurance provider reported $5.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.47 by $0.71. HCI Group had a net margin of 18.58% and a return on equity of 29.67%. The firm had revenue of $221.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $218.98 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that HCI Group will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HCI Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in HCI Group by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 940,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $109,538,000 after buying an additional 127,332 shares in the last quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Khrom Capital Management LLC now owns 796,170 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $92,778,000 after purchasing an additional 136,642 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 168.8% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 452,781 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $67,569,000 after purchasing an additional 284,315 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 288.9% in the 4th quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 294,349 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,300,000 after purchasing an additional 218,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of HCI Group by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 241,881 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $36,819,000 after purchasing an additional 14,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

About HCI Group

HCI Group, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the property and casualty insurance, insurance management, reinsurance, real estate, and information technology businesses in Florida. It provides residential insurance products, such as homeowners, fire, flood, and wind-only insurance to homeowners, condominium owners, and tenants for properties, as well as offers reinsurance programs.