National Interstate Corp. ( NATL - Snapshot Report ) recently hit a 52-week high and is trading slightly below that level. The company recently declared a dividend of five cents per share and is currently yielding about 0.6%. In early November, NATL posted earnings per share of 52 cents, jumping ahead of last year’s 34 cents. Wall Street is upbeat on NATL as evidenced by current full-year 2007 earnings estimates of $2.25 per share, compared to last month’s $2.21. The company is expected to grow its EPS by 14% over the next 3 – 5 years, versus the industry average of 10%. NATL’s ROE of 24% stands above the industry average of 13%.

Full Analysis

National Interstate Corporation, founded in 1989, is a specialty property and casualty insurance holding company with a niche orientation and focus on the transportation industry. The company differentiates itself within its markets by offering insurance products and services designed to meet the unique needs of targeted insurance buyers that NATL believes are underserved by the insurance industry. The company’s products include property and casualty insurance for transportation companies, captive insurance programs for commercial risks that NATL refers to as its alternative risk transfer component, specialty personal lines consisting of insurance products focused primarily on recreational vehicle owners and small commercial vehicle accounts, and transportation and general commercial insurance in Hawaii and Alaska.

The company recently declared a dividend of five cents per share. The dividend will be paid on December 14, 2007 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 30, 2007. The company’s dividend yield stands about 0.6% right now.

National Interstate released solid third-quarter results in early November. Earnings per share of 52 cents jumped ahead of last year’s 34 cents. While the company did miss third-quarter analyst estimates by a penny, it has a stellar record of exceeding expectations eight times out of the past 11 quarters, matching once and missing twice.

``We are very pleased with our 2007 third quarter profitability in contrast to last year when we had unusually high loss severity in the third quarter. In addition we continue to experience growth in all of our business components and maintain double digit top line growth overall,'' commented Dave Michelson, President and Chief Operating Officer of National Interstate Corporation.

Alan Spachman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said National Interstate continues to perform through all phases of business cycles. The company is maintaining its growth and profitability during the current soft commercial insurance market, and NATL’s investment results were minimally impacted by the credit crisis.

Wall Street is upbeat on NATL, which recently hit a 52-week high and is now trading slightly below that level. Current full-year 2007 earnings estimates of $2.25 per share are above last month’s $2.21. The company is expected to grow its EPS by 14% over the next 3 – 5 years, versus the industry average of 10%.

National Interstate’s return on equity of 24% stands above the industry average of 13%.