Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterate Outperform On AGII

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is reiterating its Outperform rating and is maintaining its price target of $40 on Argo Group International AGII, reflecting less severe Japan losses than originally projected. In the report, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods writes, “Argo Group announced a preliminary $60 million pre-tax loss estimate for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, which was less than our $70 million pre-tax loss estimate. We are raising our 1Q11 and 2011 EPS estimates on the revised catastrophe loss estimate. We are maintaining our target price and reiterate our Outperform rating.” AGII closed yesterday at $31.75.