Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Here's Why You Should Add Alleghany (Y) Stock to Portfolio

Read MoreHide Full Article

Alleghany Corporation is well-poised for growth, riding on solid underwriting and a sturdy financial position.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 and 2021 earnings has moved up 31.9% and 15.6%, respectively in the past 30 days, reflecting analysts’ optimism.

Alleghany has been delivering increasing net premiums earned since 2016 banking on solid operations at Insurance and Reinsurance. Continued strong underwriting performances by TransRe and RSUI, CapSpecialty and PacificComp should continue to drive results.

The company noted significant opportunity in excess & supply market and RSUI is well positioned to capitalize on the same. With the Reinsurance market firming up, the company identified opportunity in casualty lines with rate increases above claim trends. With a decent capitalized base, Alleghany is well-positioned to support its subsidiaries in taking advantage of growth opportunities.

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) insurer’s investment portfolio is prudently positioned with lower-than-average allocation to risk assets.

Alleghany boasts a solid balance sheet with high liquidity and improving leverage. Its debt to capital of 19.3% betters the industry average of 21.3%. The company exited the second quarter with $1.7 billion in cash balance.

Shares of Alleghany have lost 29.8% year to date compared with the industry's decline of 6.6%.



The stock is currently undervalued. Price to book of 0.95X is lower than the industry average of 1.32X. Also the stock carries an impressive Value Score of B. Value Score helps find stocks that are undervalued. Back-tested results have shown that stocks with a Value Score of A or B combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2 are the best investment bets.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked companies in the insurance industry are Donegal Group (DGICA - Free Report) , The Allstate Corporation (ALL - Free Report) and Fidelity National Financial (FNF - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Donegal Group delivered an earnings surprise of 134.62% in the last-reported quarter.

Allstate came up with an earnings surprise of 74.47% in the last-reported quarter.

Fidelity National delivered an earnings surprise of 53.52% in the last-reported quarter.

5 Stocks Set to Double

Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth.

Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>
 


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


The Allstate Corporation (ALL) - free report >>

Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (FNF) - free report >>

Donegal Group, Inc. (DGICA) - free report >>

Published in