ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

ProAssurance Corporation (NYSE:PRA) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PRA. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ProAssurance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ProAssurance in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised ProAssurance to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd.

ProAssurance Stock Up 0.1%

PRA opened at $24.26 on Friday. ProAssurance has a 52 week low of $13.90 and a 52 week high of $24.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.32 and a beta of 0.09.

ProAssurance (NYSE:PRA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The insurance provider reported $0.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.13). ProAssurance had a return on equity of 4.78% and a net margin of 3.01%.The company had revenue of $279.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $268.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.34 EPS. ProAssurance’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ProAssurance will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ProAssurance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PRA. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 356.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,405 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of ProAssurance by 12,152.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 2,818 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 2,795 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of ProAssurance by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of ProAssurance by 271.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 5,576 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in ProAssurance by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,679 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. 85.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ProAssurance Company Profile

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.