Donald Smith & CO. Inc. Acquires 109,848 Shares of Everest Group, Ltd. $EG

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Everest Group, Ltd. (NYSE:EG) by 54.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 311,037 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 109,848 shares during the quarter. Everest Group comprises approximately 2.5% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned approximately 0.74% of Everest Group worth $105,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of EG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Everest Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,577,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,026,428,000 after purchasing an additional 17,346 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Everest Group in the second quarter worth about $601,300,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Everest Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,211,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,385,000 after buying an additional 6,217 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Everest Group by 3.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 696,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,150,000 after acquiring an additional 22,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Everest Group by 10.7% during the first quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 682,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,147,000 after purchasing an additional 66,041 shares in the last quarter. 92.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup started coverage on Everest Group in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $362.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Everest Group from $424.00 to $400.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Everest Group from $383.00 to $343.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Everest Group in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Everest Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $368.77.

Everest Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of EG stock opened at $310.04 on Friday. Everest Group, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $302.44 and a twelve month high of $375.25. The stock has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $330.80 and a 200 day moving average of $335.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Everest Group (NYSE:EG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $7.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $13.39 by ($5.85). Everest Group had a return on equity of 3.74% and a net margin of 3.12%.The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $11.80 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Everest Group, Ltd. will post 47.93 EPS for the current year.

Everest Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 26th. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Everest Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.93%.

Insider Transactions at Everest Group

In related news, Director Allan Levine purchased 3,100 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $306.08 per share, with a total value of $948,848.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,271,150.24. The trade was a 294.40% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Galtney, Jr. bought 11,385 shares of Everest Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $307.38 per share, for a total transaction of $3,499,521.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 45,491 shares in the company, valued at $13,983,023.58. This represents a 33.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Everest Group 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.