Property & Casualty Insurance

Allstate Insurance Company (NYSE: ALL) is seeking to recover $4 million against 20 New York area defendants in its first insurance fraud lawsuit of 2011. The complaint specifically cites six physicians, eight medical professional corporations, and the lay-owned companies allegedly used to control...

The RLI Corp (NYSE: RLI). board of directors has declared a second quarter regular cash dividend of $0.30 per share, a $0.01 increase over the prior quarter. The dividend is payable on June 20, 2011 to shareholders of record as of May 31, 2011.

KBW is reiterating its Outperform rating on shares of American Safety Insurance Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: ASI). “ASI reported a ROCK of [$0.73, $(0.56), $(0.24), $(0.41)],” KBW writes. “The quarter was impacted by the recent catastrophes abroad as well as some adverse reserve development primarily on...

SWS Group, Inc. (NYSE: SWS) today announced that two of the nation's leading proxy advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis & Co, recommend that SWS Group stockholders vote "FOR" the issuance of warrants to each of Hilltop Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTH) and Oak Hill Capital...

Infinity Property and Casualty Group (NASDAQ: IPCC) Reports EPS of $0.87 vs. $1.04 Estimate; Revenues $252.3M vs. $261.1M Estimate

ProAssurance Corp (NYSE: PRA) reported operating EPS of $1.46 in 1Q11, beating the Street's estimate of $1.16 and PJC's $1.30. Favorable reserve development of $40.0M led to a 53.3% loss ratio, driving the upside again this quarter. Net investment income of $36.2M reported slightly lower than...

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) reported operating EPS of $0.79 for 1Q11, topping both Piper Jaffray's estimate of $0.37 and consensus of $0.63, driven by lower than anticipated losses. Underwriting performance drove the bulk of the upside with a combined ratio of 105.0% coming in ahead of Piper's 111.0%...

FPIC Insurance Group (NASDAQ: FPIC) reported operating EPS of $0.67 in 1Q11 compared to the consensus $0.63 and PJC's $0.68. This figure compares to operating EPS of $0.69 in 1Q10. The quarter fell roughly in line with expectations as higher premiums mitigated a higher loss ratio and lower...

ACE (NYSE: ACE) Reports EPS of $0.79 vs. $0.63 Estimate

Allied World Assurance (NYSE: AWH) Reports EPS of $(1.02) vs. $(0.71) Estimate; Revenues $435.46 vs. $352.68M Estimate

ProAssurance Corp (NYSE: PRA) Reports EPS of $1.55 vs. $1.16 Estimate; Revenues $173.6M vs. $178.34M Estimate

BGB Securities provided color on Argo Group International (NASDAQ: AGII) in a research report published today. BGB Securities has previously given Argo Group International a Buy rating and $37 price target. In the report, BGB Securities states, "While there remains plenty of room to the upside, we...

BGB Securities maintained its AmTrust Financial Services (NASDAQ: AFSI) Buy rating and $26 price target in a research report published today. In the report, BGB Securities states, "Recent expansion initiatives continue to pay off for AFSI. The company continues to benefit from growth of its...

BGB Securities raised its Meadowbrook Insurance Group (NYSE: MIG) price target to $13 in a research report published today. BGB Securities has previously given Meadowbrook Insurance Group a Buy rating. In the report, BGB Securities states, "As expected, reserve releases continue to decline as an...

Wunderlich Securities put a Buy rating and $25 price target on Amerisafe (NASDAQ: AMSF) in a research report published today. Amerisafe lost 0.09% in yesterday's trading to close the day at $22.24.