Cincinnati Financial Upped to Strong Buy - Analyst Blog
April 05 2013 - 10:40AM
Zacks
On Apr 5, 2013, Zacks Investment Research upgraded
Cincinnati Financial Corp. (CINF) to a Zacks Rank
#1 (Strong Buy).
Why the Upgrade?
Cincinnati Financial has delivered positive earnings surprises
in all 4 quarters of 2012 with an average beat of 64.01%. Moreover,
the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter for 2013 stands
at 52 cents per share, up 7.64% year over year. Most estimates were
revised upward over the past 60 days.
This property and casualty insurance company is expected to
declare its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Apr
25. Cincinnati Financial’s Commercial Lines Insurance segment has
been witnessing top-line growth for the past couple of years driven
by several growth initiatives as well as a gradual increase in
insurance rates. The momentum is expected to continue going
forward.
Cincinnati Financial’s Excess and Surplus line is also
performing well. Appointing new agencies is another strategic
initiative that the company is focused on for 2013. During 2013, it
plans to appoint around 65 agencies, which according to management,
can plough in $5 billion of direct written premium by 2015.
Additionally, Cincinnati Financial regularly returns capital to
shareholders in the form of cash dividend. The dividend yield of
3.43% is higher than the industry average of 2.2%. Management has
been consistently increasing the yearly dividend for the past 52
years.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other stocks in the property and casualty insurance sector that
are worth a look are Arch Capital Group Ltd.
(ACGL), Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd. (AHL) and
AXIS Capital Holdings Limited (AXS). All these are
Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) companies.
ARCH CAP GP LTD (ACGL): Free Stock Analysis Report
ASPEN INS HLDGS (AHL): Free Stock Analysis Report
AXIS CAP HLDGS (AXS): Free Stock Analysis Report
CINCINNATI FINL (CINF): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Aspen Insurance (NYSE:AHL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024
Aspen Insurance (NYSE:AHL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024
Real-Time news about Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited Ordinary Shares (New York Stock Exchange): 0 recent articles
More Aspen Insurance News Articles