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Market Keeps Chugging Along 10-01-2010
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 3:20pm | 938Cusick's Corner Some readers have told me that I have been posting the same three sentences in the Corner over the past 5 sessions. (Thanks for the insight Dad, and you are right.) The market in general has been defying the odds, just keeps chugging along. What was interesting yesterday was the...
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Protection Purchased on Progressive Corp. (PGR)
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 1:19pm | 176Shares of The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) are flat on the session, currently trading at $20.88. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past few months, moreover the past year. PGR is trading near a new 52-week high. Options traders are buying protection on the name today. A...
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Coverage Resumed For Hanover Insurance
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 10:12am | 30Stifel Nicolaus has resumed coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group (NYSE: THG) at Buy and has raised the price target from $52 to $60.
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Coverage Initiated For AXIS
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 10:08am | 23Wunderlich has initiated coverage for AXIS Capital (NYSE: AXS) at Buy with a $42 price target.
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Old Republic and PMA Capital Close Merger
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 7:41am | 134Old Republic International Corporation (NYSE: ORI) and PMA Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: PMACA) announced earlier today the closing of the merger between PMA and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Old Republic. In connection with the closing of the merger, PMA changed its name to PMA Companies, Inc. PMA...
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Benzinga's Top Upgrades (ACN, NATL, QLGC, IDA)
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 7:25am | 140Accenture Plc (NYSE: ACN) was upgraded by Wells Fargo from “market perform” to "outperform." ACN's shares closed at $42.49 yesterday. Accenture's trailing-twelve-month ROE is 53.48%. BofA/Merrill upgraded National Interstate Corporation (NASDAQ: NATL) from "underperform" to "buy." NATL's shares...
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Barclays Downgrades THG To Equal Weight
Friday, October 1, 2010 - 6:36am | 54Analysts at Barclays downgrade The Hanover Insurance Group Inc (NYSE: THG) from "overweight" to "equal weight." The target price for THG has been reduced from $49 to $46. Shares of THG gained 1.18% to close at $47 yesterday. More Analyst Ratings here
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Oppenheimer Removes Rating On AMPH
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - 8:49am | 130Oppenheimer is removing it's rating for American Physicians Service Group (NASDAQ: AMPH), as it believes that stock price movement and volume reflect positioning around the announced acquisition by ProAssurance (PRA) and no longer reflect investor views on the standalone company's operations. The...
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AXIS Capital to Buy Back Shares - Analyst Blog
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 - 12:03am | 539As part of its concerted effort to enhance value for its shareholders, the board of directors of AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXS) has approved an additional $750 million share buyback program. The current buyback approval is in addition to the $121 million available as of September 23, 2010,...
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Unconfirmed Rumor that XL Group plc (XL)will be aquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) at $33.00
Monday, September 27, 2010 - 9:54am | 23Unconfirmed Rumor that XL Group plc (XL)will be aquired by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-A) at $33.00.
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Universal Insurance CEO Sells 143,000 Shares of UVE
Thursday, September 23, 2010 - 5:07pm | 53In a Form 4 filed after the bell today, Universal Insurance Holdings (NYSE: UVE) CEO, Bradley Meier, reported that he sold 143,000 shares of UVE on September 21st for an average price of $4.37. The transaction totaled $624,910. Mr. Meier owns 14,243,276 direct shares of UVE. Source: The Washington...
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Benzinga's Political Round Up
Thursday, September 23, 2010 - 12:04pm | 195Jobless claims rose last week, coming in at 465,000 versus the 450,000 economists had expected. This could put additional pressure on the Federal Reserve to do an additional round of quantitative easing, which would be beneficial for multinationals like Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) and McDonald's (NYSE...
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Military Interest in Oxycyte Continues - Analyst Blog
Monday, September 20, 2010 - 11:42am | 892Military interest in Oxygen Biotherapeutics' (OXBT) Oxycyte continues to be a strong driver for clinical development. The company's phase 2b clinical trial studying Oxycyte for the treatment of traumatic brain injury (TBI), which has been enrolling at sites in Switzerland and Israel, has recently...
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Progressive Reports Bullish August Numbers
Monday, September 20, 2010 - 10:03am | 135The Progressive Corporation (NYSE: PGR) reported 2010 EPS of $0.12 vs. Deutsche Bank's estimate of $0.11, and also reported $5.7B in revenues, a sign that surplus has returned to peak levels, according to Deutsche. Deutsche Bank reports "Gainshare is Progressive's internal measure of the degree to...
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Top 4 NASDAQ Stocks In The Property And Casualty Insurance Industry With The Highest Dividend Yield (CINF, SAFT, HGIC, ERIE)
Monday, September 20, 2010 - 6:06am | 124Below are the top property and casualty insurance stocks on the NASDAQ in terms of dividend yield. Cincinnati Financial Corp (NASDAQ: CINF) has a dividend yield of 5.50%. CINF's shares closed at $29.21 on Friday. Safety Insurance Group Inc (NASDAQ: SAFT) has a dividend yield of 4.70%. SAFT's shares...