Property & Casualty Insurance

J.P. Morgan is adjusting down its 2Q and FY 2011 EPS estimates for ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) by $0.22 and $0.22 to $1.67 and $5.95, respectively, “to reflect the significant weather losses that affected the US in the month of April.” “Our estimate reduction reflects our estimate of these losses,...

J.P. Morgan is adjusting down its 2Q and FY 2011 EPS estimates for Allstate (NYSE: ALL) by $1.53 and $1.53 to a per share loss of $0.51 and EPS of $2.15, respectively, “to reflect the significant weather losses that affected the US in the month of April.” “The company recently preannounced total...

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE: THG) today announced that Frederick H. Eppinger, the company's chief executive officer, has entered into a pre-arranged stock trading plan. Under the plan, Eppinger is allowed to exercise up to 150,000 options to purchase The Hanover's common stock and to...

(TheStreet) -- Stocks slipped back into the red as weakness in technology stocks offset strength in basic materials. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 22 points, or 0.2%, at 12,573. Earlier in the session, the index rose to as high as 12,642. The S&P 500 was down by 4 points or 0.3...

Gilford Securities is reiterating its Buy rating on shares of Homeowners Choice (NASDAQ: HCII) after the company reported earnings. In a note to investors, Gilford writes, "Homeowners Choice reported 2011 Q1 EPS of $0.12 per share versus 2010 Q1 of $0.10 per share and our estimate of $0.18 per...

Piper Jaffray downgraded Hallmark Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ: HALL) from “overweight” to “neutral.” HALL's shares closed at $7.05 on Friday. Hallmark Financial's PEG ratio is -2.13. Robert W. Baird downgraded Heartland Express Inc (NASDAQ: HTLD) from “outperform” to “neutral.” HTLD's shares...

Piper Jaffray is out with its report today on Hallmark Financial (NASDAQ: HALL), downgrading HALL from Overweight to Neutral. In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Hallmark's first quarter results reflect an increasingly difficult to manage Florida book of non-standard auto business and...

Piper Jaffray has downgraded Hallmark Financial (NASDAQ: HALL) from Overweight to Neutral and has lowered the price target from $10 to $7.50.

It was a rainy and cold weekend in Montreal so I spent most of it doing the one thing I hate the most, shopping. I bought a new mattress, a new television, some clothes and re-tailored my suits, jackets and pants because the first tailor did a terrible job (losing weight is healthy but expensive)....

Cognex (CGNX) is trading at a price of $34.86, a dramatic change of -0.97. Currently, the company has a Market capitalization (total value of a company in the stock market) of approximately 1.45B. Cognex is giving up its quarterly distributions by 13% to $0.09 a share. This is the third time over...

Yahoo! Inc (YHOO) prized investment in Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has turned into a stock market millstone. Alibaba's recently disclosed spinoff of an online-payment unit called Alipay is raising worries about the value of Yahoo's 43 percent stake in Alibaba. Alibaba Group...

Cusick's Corner Here's something to look at over the weekend, check out options volatility ahead of earnings. Log into your optionsXpress account and check out the Volatility View chart, plus go to our Options Chains to see the Implied Volatility & Greeks on a strike-by-strike basis. Stocks...

(TheStreet) -- Stocks were trading nearly 1% lower Friday, driven by rising inflation concerns and a stronger dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 118 points, or 0.9%, at 12,578. The S&P 500 was lower by 12 points, or 0.9%, at 1337, and the Nasdaq was off by 31 points, or 1.1...

Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE: AGO) announced today that effective June 1, 2011, Robert B. Mills, currently Chief Financial Officer, will be appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer and Robert A. Bailenson, currently Chief Accounting Officer, will succeed Mr. Mills as Chief Financial...

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods commented on Assured Guaranty (NYSE: AGO) in a report released today. In the report, Keefe was positive in its outlook of the company. Keefe writes, “Following first quarter earnings results for AGO, we are raising our full-year 2011 operating EPS estimate to $3.83...