HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

HCI Group, Inc. (NYSE:HCI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $199.00 and last traded at $195.15, with a volume of 139218 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $197.01.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on HCI. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of HCI Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of HCI Group in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $181.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HCI Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HCI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in HCI Group by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in HCI Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,676 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $996,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. CCG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in HCI Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $246,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in HCI Group by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 61,664 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $9,202,000 after buying an additional 1,332 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of HCI Group by 22.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,886 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 1,612 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.99% of the company’s stock.

HCI Group Stock Down 1.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $171.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $157.35. The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.17.

HCI Group (NYSE:HCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 25.84% and a net margin of 18.58%.The company had revenue of $221.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $218.98 million. Research analysts expect that HCI Group, Inc. will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.