Alleghany (Y) Q4 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Improve Y/Y

Alleghany Corporation (NYSE:Y) reported fourth-quarter 2017 operating earnings of $9.89 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.58 by 30.5%. Moreover, the bottom line surged 40.9% from the year-ago quarter.

Including one-time items, the company reported net earnings of $9.96 per share, which skyrocketed 123.8% from the year-ago quarter.

Full-Year Highlights

For 2017, Alleghany reported operating earnings per share of $2.04, which plummeted 92.9% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $6.3 billion improved 3.6% from the level in 2016 owing to higher net investment income as well as other revenues.

Total expenses increased 16.5% year over year to $6.4 billion, largely due to increase in net loss and loss adjustment expenses, other operating expenses, corporate administration as well as interest expenses.

Operational Update

Net premiums written inched up 1.6% year over year to $1.2 billion.

Net investment income came in at $129.2 million in the quarter under review, up 21.8% year over year. This improvement is attributable to higher interest income, higher yields on short-term investments and floating-rate debt securities.

Catastrophe loss of $6.6 million was substantially narrower than $43 million loss in the year-ago quarter.

Underwriting profit surged 34.4% year over year to $137.2 million. For 2017, combined ratio deteriorated 1450 bps to 106.4% compared with that of 2016.

Segment Update

Reinsurance Segment: Net premiums written declined 3.5% to $903.4 million due to cancellations, non-renewals and lower participations in certain treaties, impact of rate pressures and increased retentions by cedants.

Underwriting profit was $95.7 million, improving 21% from the year-ago quarter.

Insurance Segment: Net premiums written increased 5.1% to $276 million, driven by sustained growth at Alleghany’s all three insurance companies. Underwriting profit of $41.5 million soared 79.7% from the prior-year quarter.

Financial Update

Alleghany exited the reported quarter with cash of $838.4 million compared with $594 million at the end of 2016.

Debt balance of $1.5 billion inched up 0.6% from December 2016-end level.

Allegheny’s shareholders’ equity at the end of the quarter was $8.5 billion compared with $7.9 billion at 2016-end level.

Book value per share was $553.20 as of Dec 31, 2017, up 7.4% from the level on Dec 31, 2016. This upside was driven by a solid investment performance and risk management protocols.

Net cash from operations totaled $445.7 million for the year ended Dec 31, 2017, down 43.8% year over year.

Share Repurchase and Dividend Update

In the fourth quarter, Alleghany bought back shares worth 7.5 million. As of Dec 31, 2017, the company has $363.2 million remaining under its authorization.

The board of directors approved a special dividend of $10 per share, payable on Mar 15, 2018 to shareholders of record as of Mar 5, 2018.

Zacks Rank

Alleghany sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Performance of Other Insurers

Among other players from the insurance industry having reported fourth-quarter earnings, the bottom line of Brown & Brown, Inc. (NYSE:BRO) , MGIC Investment Corporation (NYSE:MTG) and The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.

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