Property & Casualty Insurance

J.P. Morgan is out with its report on The Progressive Corp. (NYSE: PGR), raising its EPS estimates. In a note to clients, J.P. Morgan writes, "We are updating our operating EPS estimates for Progressive Corp. to reflect trends through the first two months of 2011. Specifically, we are raising our...

Analysts at BofA/Merrill downgrade W.R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for WRB has been raised from $32 to $34. WRB shares fell 0.81% to $31.92 in pre-market trading. More Analyst Ratings here

Shares of XL Group (NYSE: XL) are higher on the session by 0.24%, currently trading at $25.06. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past four months and is currently trading above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying calls on the name today. A short while...

XL Group plc (NYSE: XL) stated its initial loss estimates from the tragedy in Japan to be $190 to $290 million, roughly half of the average of those in their peer group, reports Citi. Citi maintains a Buy/High Risk rating and a PT of $27. XL closed yesterday at $25.

According to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, XL Group (NYSE: XL) preannounced initial estimated losses from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reported that it is cutting EPS estimates to reflect this announcement, but raising our price target. “Maintain a Market Perform...

Below are the top large-cap property & casualty insurance stocks on the NYSE and the NASDAQ in terms of operating margin. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Chubb Corporation (The) (NYSE: CB) is 24.36%. CB's PEG ratio is 1.17. The trailing-twelve-month operating margin at Ace...

We screened for companies with strong revenue growth over the past year and low debt to equity ratios. Here is what we found: Assured Guaranty (AGO) is the only long-standing financial guaranty company writing new business today. The company guarantees public finance, global infrastructure, and...

We screened for companies with strong revenue growth over the past year and low debt to equity ratios. Here is what we found: Assured Guaranty (AGO) is the only long-standing financial guaranty company writing new business today. The company guarantees public finance, global infrastructure, and...

The market opened slightly to the upside this morning with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and NASDAQ Composite all posting slight gains. The market is looking to build on last week's positive momentum, which saw positive economic numbers in many areas including the Jobs Report and...

Shares of W. R. Berkley Corporation (NYSE: WRB) are higher on the session by 0.22%, trading at $32.95. Overall call volume is now running at 21.62x the daily average, with 56% of all calls traded being purchases on the offer. 1,016 contracts have traded on the session so far. W. R. Berkley...

Axis Capital Holdings Limited (NYSE: AXS) was upgraded by Citigroup from "hold" to "buy." AXS' shares closed at $35.39 on Friday. AXS' trailing-twelve-month operating margin is 26.35%. Goodrich Corporation (The) (NYSE: GR) was upgraded by JP Morgan from "neutral" to "overweight.” GR's shares...

Merger activity increased last week with six new deals announced and four deals closing. I received an email over the weekend from someone who was new to the Merger Arbitrage strategy and wanted to learn more about it. I pointed him to my article on the Pfizer – Wyeth deal, which provides an...

ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of New York Life's Hong Kong operations for approximately $350 million in cash. The original October 2010 purchase agreement with New York Life was amended to allow for separate closings for the Korea and Hong Kong...

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning, as investors are awaiting payrolls data. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 49 points to 12,301.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index gained 5 points to 1,326.00. Nasdaq 100 futures added 11.75 points to 2,348.00. A...

Analysts at Goldman downgrade Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) from “buy” to “neutral.” The target price for ALL has been lowered from $36 to $34. ALL shares fell 0.22% to close at $31.78 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here