Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts!

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FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

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Tuesday November 17, 2009

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

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PowerSafe Technology Corporation (PSFT.PK) subsidiary Amplification Technologies Inc. (www.amplificationtechnologies.com) (ATI), is offering higher performance thermoelectrically cooled discrete amplification single photon counting solid state photodetectors. These photodetectors are mounted on a two stage thermoelectric cooler inside a hermetically sealed TO8 package and can be operated down to a temperature of -30oC.

Zscaler, Inc., the market leader in cloud-delivered multi-tenant Security as a Service (SaaS), today announced that its SaaS security service has achieved OPSEC(TM) (Open Platform

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Travelers Companies Inc. (TRV) recently raised full year guidance as it surprised on estimates for the third time in the last 4 quarters. The company is trading with a forward P/E of just 8.9.

Company Description

Travelers provides property and casualty insurance for autos, homes and businesses.

Travelers Surprised by 23.85% in the Third Quarter

On Oct 22, Travelers reported third quarter results which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 31 cents. Earnings per share were $1.61 compared to the Zacks Consensus of $1.30. EPS was 55 cents in the year ago period.

Written premiums fell 3% to $5.34 billion from the year ago period due to global economic conditions. Renewal rates were positive in all business segments which offset the impact of lower coverage demands from existing policyholders due to the recession.

New business volumes fell slightly from the third quarter of 2008. Personal Insurance saw lower

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ProAssurance Corporation (PRA) said Thursday that its Board has authorized an additional $100 million to repurchase its stock or retire outstanding debt. The current repurchase program is the addition to the company’s $31.3 million remaining repurchase authorizations. Since April 2007 ProAssurance has purchased 3.6 million shares at a cost of $177.8 million and used $40.9 million to retire debt. The total retirement of debt includes $7 million in surplus notes retired recently with respect to its acquisition of the PICA Group. Prudent capital management is a key strength for ProAssurance. The company deploys capital in an effective manner mainly through its stock buyback program. As the company is currently comfortable with its capital position, we anticipate the repurchase activities to continue in the coming quarters. As of December 31, 2008, all of the ProAssurance subsidiaries exceeded the minimum risk-based ...

RNR, RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.

AFG, American Financial Group Inc.

 

DrStockPick Watch List!

DrStockPick Watch List! for Wednesday July 29, 2009

 

My Picks for Wednesday July 29, 2009 are:

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AFG, American Financial Group Inc.

AFG is an insurance holding company, based in Cincinnati, Ohio with assets in excess of $25 billion. Through the operations of Great American Insurance Group, AFG is engaged primarily in property and casualty insurance, focusing on specialized commercial products for businesses, and in the sale of traditional fixed, indexed and variable annuities and a variety of supplemental insurance products.

Today after Closing Bell, AFG reported Record Second Quarter and Six Month Core Net Operating Earnings attributable

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As published on the company website on July 9, 2009, the Ward Group has recognized ProAssurance Corporation (PRA), a holding company for property and casualty insurance companies, as one of the top 50 performing property and casualty insurance companies in America.

This is the third consecutive year the company has received such recognition from Ward Group. We think that this prestigious award strengthens PRA’s brand equity and reflects its solid financial strength in the ongoing market turmoil.

Ward's rigorous safety and consistency screening process recognizes the importance given by PRA to protect its policyholders. Though lower rates and the challenges of writing new business are expected to keep pressure on written premiums, with prudent operating and financial leverage, responsible pricing, loss reserve practice, and conservative investments in assets, we think the company will be able to sustain its net written premium growth rate in the long run.

PRA employs a unique strategy

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Highlights include JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup, Inc. (C), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), American Express Co. (AXP) and Capital One Financial Corp. (COF). The Federal Reserve announced the expansion of its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) on Friday by including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and securities backed by insurance premium finance loans as eligible collateral from June 2009. The Fed also authorized TALF loans with maturities of five years. Currently, all TALF loans have maturities of three years. The details can be seen here. The CMBS market had accounted for almost half of new commercial mortgage originations in 2007, but as the broader economic condition worsened, this market almost froze towards the middle of last year. As such, it became difficult for the owners of shopping malls, hotels, etc. to refinance their loans or obtain new loans.

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Allianz Aktiengesell (AZ) has over 75 million customers and a presence in more than 70 countries. It is the largest insurer in Germany with a market share of 18% of the property and casualty insurance in that country and is a leader in Europe. Allianz is also one of the top insurers worldwide. Its clientele includes nearly half of the Fortune 500 companies.The downfall of other large financial institutions could provide Allianz the opportunity to increase market share. The sale of Dresdner Bank will reduce earnings volatility for the group going forward.We are maintaining our Buy recommendation on Allianz after the company's full-year results. The recent sharp drop in share price has taken the stock to a very attractive level. Our target price is $10.00. Read the full analyst report on "AZ"Zacks Investment Research

Allianz Aktiengesell (AZ) has over 60 million customers and a presence in more than 70 countries. It is the largest insurer in Germany with a market share of 18% of the property and casualty insurance in that country, and is a leader in Europe.We are maintaining our Buy recommendation on Allianz after its third quarter results. The recent sharp drop in share price has taken the stock to a very attractive level, and our Zacks quantitative model also has a Buy on the stock. Our target price is $11.00.On our forecast, the stock is trading at 5.3x 2009 EPADR, which is a very attractive valuation. Allianz is one of the oldest and largest insurers in Europe as well as a top insurer worldwide. As such we believe that the company has the reputation and financial strength to withstand any major slow down in the ...

Through their subsidiaries and their contractual relationships with their independent agents and general agents, 21st Century Holding Company (NASDAQ: TCHC) is an established insurance company that controls and generates revenue from substantially all aspects of their insurance businesses.

The company is fully authorized to underwrite homeowner’s property and casualty insurance, commercial general liability insurance, personal automobile insurance, and commercial automobile insurance in various states implementing various lines of authority, and does this primarily through their wholly owned subsidiaries, Federated National Insurance Company and American Vehicle Insurance Company.

Federated National Insurance Company (FNIC) was created in January of 1992 and was later acquired by the shareholders of 21st Century Holding Company. The purpose of the acquisition of FNIC was to provide a means to better control the business and underwriting risk, as well as to improve operating margins. Their core business consists of the writing of homeowners insurance in

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Trade was one of Minnesota's earliest industries. A lot has changed since the days when fur trading was the main business of this economy. Today Minnesota is home to a vibrant economy. The state is a top producer of wind power and ethanol fuel.Some interesting facts about the state are:1. Purchase and sale of cattle, sheep, goats, poultry and fur-bearing animals is tax-free.2. Petroleum derivates are tax-free when used in the production of agricultural products.3. Forest products, minerals, and outdoor recreation represent 6% of the State’s gross product.4. Minnesota’s top exports are: computers, and electronics, and machinery.5. The state’s top trading partners are Canada, China and Ireland.6. Minnesota has the 14th lowest property tax in the nation.7. More fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Minnesota per person than in any other state.8. Between 1994 ...