Catastrophe modelers, insurers and reinsurers are still sorting out the damage from Windstorm Xynthia in Europe and the earthquake in Chile. Taking only the highest of high-end estimates, the damage from these two catastrophes could exceed $12 billion, resulting in fairly steep property-catastrophe losses long before hurricane season begins. With three more major property reinsurance renewals remaining for the year -- at April 1, June 1 (Florida) and July 1 -- there is plenty of time for the impact of these events to be absorbed into reinsurance pricing.

Continue reading Assessing the Tab for Q1 Catastrophes

Assessing the Tab for Q1 Catastrophes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MOST NOTEWORTHY:

• Goldman upgraded shares of Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU) to Neutral from Sell to reflect the recovery of U.S. corporate bond yields which they believe is positive for the company's long-term pension liability. Goldman also thinks analyst estimates may have bottomed.
  
• Thomas Weisel raised Opnext (NASDAQ:OPXT) to Overweight from Market Weight after their research indicated an acceleration in optical communications component industry revenue growth.
  
• Deutsche Bank upgraded American Axle (NYSE:AXL) to Buy from Hold to reflect the cost savings from the UAW contract.

• MFA Mortgage (NYSE:MFA) was upgraded at Keefe Bruyette to Outperform from Market Perform.
  
• Citigroup upgraded Flagstone Reinsurance (NYSE:FSR) to Buy from Hold.
  
• Merrill raised Crane Co (NYSE:CR) to Buy from Neutral.

Analyst upgrades: ALU, OPXT and AXL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 May 2008 11:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Even though tomorrow is a holiday in the U.S., there are a handful of companies planning to report quarterly earnings nonetheless. Perhaps some may be trying to keep a low profile; others may simply not be concerned with the American holiday schedule. Regardless, here's a quick peek at some of those companies, with the consensus earnings per share estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial compared to the previous quarter and year-ago quarter, the share price at the close on Friday (with charts behind the links), and consensus recommedations.

• Constellation Energy Partners (NYSE: CEP). Est. EPS: .48; Prev. Q.: .31; Yr-ago: .51; Shares: $19.63; Rec.: Strong buy.
• Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings (NYSE: FSR). Est. EPS: .66; Prev. Q.: .68; Shares: $13.19; Rec.: Hold.
• Natco Group Inc. (NYSE: NTG). Est. EPS: .69; Prev. Q.: .63; Yr-ago: .57; Shares: $44.46; Rec.: Buy.
• PharMerica Corp. (NYSE: PMC). Est. EPS: .08; Prev. Q.: .06; Shares: $13.86; Rec.: Hold.
• Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC). Est. EPS: -.04; Prev. Q.: -.79; Yr-ago: .59; Shares: $32.49; Rec.: Hold.
• Trico Marine Services Inc. (NASDAQ: TRMA). Est. EPS: .77; Prev. Q.: .87; Yr-ago: 1.07; Shares: $31.92; Rec.: Buy.

UPDATED: Constellation reported .13 EPS; Flagstone reported .60 EPS; Natco reported .66 EPS; PharMerica reported .09 EPS; Stewart reported -1.74 EPS; and Trico Marine reported 2.08 EPS.

Holiday earnings reports: Constellation Energy, Natco, Trico Marine and others originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.