Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019

tags:TOP,PRU,WRB,AON,AIG, HONOLULU – Patricia Deter moved from Oregon to Hawaii to be closer to her two daughters, but the Kilauea volcano burned down her home only a month after she bought it.

Now Deter and her family, along others who have recently lost homes to the lava-spewing mountain, are on an urgent quest for answers about insurance, desperate to learn whether their coverage will offer any help after molten rock wiped out most of what they owned.

The eruption has destroyed about two dozen homes in the Leilani Estates subdivision on the Big Island. On Monday, another fissure spewing lava and toxic gas opened up, and a crack in the earth that emerged a day earlier was sending molten rock crawling toward the ocean, officials said. Nearly 20 fissures have opened since the Kilauea volcano started erupting 12 days ago, and officials warn it may soon blow its top with a massive steam eruption that would shoot boulders and ash miles into the sky.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019: Topdanmark A/S (TOP)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Max Byerly]

  TopCoin (CURRENCY:TOP) traded flat against the U.S. dollar during the one day period ending at 7:00 AM E.T. on September 8th. In the last seven days, TopCoin has traded flat against the U.S. dollar. TopCoin has a total market capitalization of $0.00 and $0.00 worth of TopCoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. One TopCoin coin can now be bought for about $0.0008 or 0.00000010 BTC on major cryptocurrency exchanges.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  TopCoin (CURRENCY:TOP) traded down 15.4% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 7:00 AM E.T. on June 21st. During the last seven days, TopCoin has traded up 4% against the dollar. TopCoin has a market cap of $0.00 and approximately $123.00 worth of TopCoin was traded on exchanges in the last day. One TopCoin coin can currently be bought for about $0.0010 or 0.00000015 BTC on popular exchanges.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019: Prudential Financial Inc.(PRU)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Logan Wallace]

  KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU) by 11.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 35,173 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned about 0.06% of Prudential Financial worth $24,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Symphony Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU) by 18.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,765 shares during the period. Symphony Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $1,672,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  Prudential plc (LON:PRU) insider Mark FitzPatrick purchased 11 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 1,684 ($22.00) per share, for a total transaction of £185.24 ($242.05).

• [By Max Byerly]

  Usca Ria LLC boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial Inc (NYSE:PRU) by 114.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 90,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 48,142 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial makes up approximately 0.9% of Usca Ria LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Usca Ria LLC’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $8,432,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

• [By ]

  Along with index ETFs, consider redeploying the capital into solid dividend producing names like Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU), AT&T (NYSE: T) and Omega Health Care (NYSE: OHI) for their expected future stability and consistent dividend payouts.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019: W.R. Berkley Corporation(WRB)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  ValuEngine cut shares of W. R. Berkley (NYSE:WRB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday morning.

  WRB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, June 14th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of W. R. Berkley from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Boenning Scattergood restated a hold rating on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Wednesday, April 25th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of W. R. Berkley in a report on Monday. They set a sell rating and a $74.00 target price on the stock. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a hold rating to the stock. W. R. Berkley currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $70.78.

• [By Joseph Griffin]

  W. R. Berkley Corp (NYSE:WRB) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $69.33.

• [By Shane Hupp]

  Gifford Fong Associates bought a new position in shares of W. R. Berkley Corp (NYSE:WRB) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,000 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019: Aon Corporation(AON)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ethan Ryder]

  North Star Investment Management Corp. decreased its position in Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in AON were worth $387,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  AON (NYSE: AON) and CorVel (NASDAQ:CRVL) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.

• [By Motley Fool Transcribing]

  Aon (NYSE:AON) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallFeb. 1, 2019 8:30 a.m. ET

  Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

  Operator

• [By Max Byerly]

  Aon PLC (NYSE:AON) Director Jeffrey C. Campbell acquired 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $143.84 per share, for a total transaction of $798,312.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,084 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,962.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  CorVel (NASDAQ: CRVL) and AON (NYSE:AON) are both business services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Top 5 Insurance Stocks To Own For 2019: American International Group Inc.(AIG)

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Dan Caplinger]

  The stock market finished the session mixed on Thursday, with investors initially reacting negatively to news of a big drop in retail sales during December but then gradually regaining confidence over the course of the day. By the close, most major benchmarks had declined modestly, though the Nasdaq ended just in the green. Yet among individual companies, weak earnings reports sent some stocks lower. American International Group (NYSE:AIG), CenturyLink (NYSE:CTL), and Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:SIX) were among the worst performers. Here's why they did so poorly.

• [By Stephan Byrd]

  American International Group (NYSE:AIG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Co in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. They presently have a $54.00 target price on the insurance provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Co‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 33.12% from the stock’s current price.

• [By Logan Wallace]

  CNB Bank bought a new position in shares of American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 706 shares of the insurance provider’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

• [By Max Byerly]

  Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on American International Group (AIG)

  For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Blue Apron's Plan Is Working, and That's Not Good

The fourth-quarter earnings report from Blue Apron Holdings Inc (NYSE:APRN) makes it appear that everything is going according to plan. Having set out to focus on its best customers, those who spend the most on its meal kits, Blue Apron was able to post increases in several key metrics.

CEO Brad Dickerson said, "As we sharpen our focus on attracting and engaging consumers who represent high value to the business, we are seeing early, encouraging trends in our customer metrics, most notably average revenue per customer, which increased year over year."

Unfortunately for the meal kit service, the more things go its way, the worse it is getting. Because even as Blue Apron saw higher average order value and revenue per customer, it lost a massive swath of its base, with its paying customers plunging 25% to just 577,000, which caused revenues to plunge by a like percentage.

Metric

Q3 2017

Q2 2018

Q3 2018

Customers	746,000	646,000	577,000
Orders	3,196,000	2,647,000	2,418,000
Average order value	$57.99	$56.79	$58.12
Orders per customer	4.3	4.1	4.3
Average revenue per customer	$248	$233	$252

Data source: Blue Apron Q4 2018 SEC filing.

Partnerships may not help

On the one hand, there is some sense to Blue Apron's actions. Because so many people try the service but quickly cancel after their first order -- some estimates put its retention rates at just 15% -- it has to spend a lot of money to keep attracting new ones to take their place. By catering to those who like the service enough to stay with their plan, it can invest its money in those areas that will satisfy them the most.

Moreover, Blue Apron remains confident it will turn profitable in the first quarter on an adjusted basis as deals like the one it made with Weight Watchers International, Inc. (NASDAQ: WTW) (which is rebranding itself as "WW") allow it to reach customers more easily. Instead of having to pay for marketing expenses, Blue Apron will pay a fee to WW for every member who becomes a subscriber.

QImage source: Blue Apron.

Yet there's no reason to think WW customers will be any more inclined to subscribe than the general public, and perhaps even less so because the kits are designed to comport with WW's Freestyle program, which eliminates the need for counting points for a broad range of foods.

Further, the kits are reportedly the same price as Blue Apron's regular meal kits, which means they're way overpriced compared to buying the individual items in a grocery store. The meal kit maker can't keep members as it is because of the high costs of its subscription, and though WW members have shown a propensity for subscribing by joining WW, adding another high-cost membership on top is going to be a hard sell.

Add in that a Blue Apron subscription, whether through WW or otherwise, only provides you with a couple of meals out of the two dozen or so you would eat during the week, doesn't really make it cost effective or worthwhile.

The competition offers more convenience

Although Blue Apron popularized the concept of meal kits, customers now have numerous outlets where they can buy a kit, including at the supermarket where prices are much more affordable. Walmart, for example, offers meal kits under its Great Value brand for just a few dollars per serving (Blue Apron has partnered with Walmart's Jet.com to sell its meal kits to attract the site's more upscale clients).

Yet customers still have to go grocery shopping to fill in the meals a kit doesn't cover, so it's still more convenient to simply pick up kits while you're there. And their availability is proliferating. 

Kroger, the largest supermarket chain in the U.S. with over 2,800 stores, recently announced it was expanding its Home Chef line of meal kits to 500 more stores, bringing the total number of stores carrying meal kits to 1,200. It also has plans to introduce meal kits to more markets in the future.

Most every major supermarket chain, whether it's an in-house brand or the brand of a partner or acquisition, now offers meal kits. Whatever competitive advantages Blue Apron once held, they've been largely eliminated, particularly as the subscription model has proven unworkable in reaching a mass audience, critical for the business to be sustainable.

 

Key investment takeaway

Blue Apron's losses narrowed to $23.7 million in the fourth quarter compared to $39.1 million last year, and it believes it can be profitable for the full year as well as the first quarter. That may be, but by that time it may have become such a small, boutique business whose key metrics have withered to such an extent that it will be worth even less as a stand-alone investment than it is today.