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Will Lower Premiums Earned Affect ProAssurance's Q4 Earnings?

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Property and Casualty insurer ProAssurance Corporation (PRA - Free Report) is set to report fourth-quarter 2024 results on Feb. 24, 2025, after the closing bell. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the to-be-reported quarter’s earnings is currently pegged at 15 cents per share on revenues of $271.98 million. 

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The fourth-quarter earnings estimate remained stable over the past 60 days. The bottom-line projection indicates a year-over-year improvement of 400%. However, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for quarterly revenues suggests a year-over-year decline of 4.6%.

Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

For 2024, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for ProAssurance’s revenues is pegged at $1.11 billion, implying a decline of 0.5% year over year. However, the consensus mark for 2024 EPS is pegged at 80 cents, signaling massive improvement from the year-ago loss of 14 cents.

ProAssurancebeat the earnings estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed once, with the average surprise being 61.5%. This is depicted in the figure below.

ProAssurance Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

ProAssurance Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

ProAssurance Corporation price-eps-surprise | ProAssurance Corporation Quote

Q4 Earnings Whispers for ProAssurance

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for the company this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That’s not the case here.

PRA has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

What’s Shaping ProAssurance’s Q4 Results?

Rising investment income and decreasing expenses are likely to have aided its performance in the fourth quarter. While the Zacks Consensus Estimate for net investment income indicates 11.9% year-over-year growth, our model estimates a 12.5% increase.

The consensus mark for net loss ratio is pegged at 78.57% for the fourth quarter, down from 78.90% a year ago, indicating improving efficiency. We expect total expenses to have declined by around 7% in the quarter under review.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Workers’ Compensation Insurance unit’s operating income indicates a 46.4% improvement from a year ago. Our model estimate for the Segregated Portfolio Cell Reinsurance unit’soperating income indicates a more than 30% increase from a year ago. These are likely to have aided the company’s bottom line in the fourth quarter.

However, the positives are likely to have been impacted by lower premiums earned. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for net premiums earned indicates a 6.5% decline from the prior-year quarter’s number, whereas our model estimates a 6.3% fall.

The consensus mark for underwriting expense ratio is pegged at 33.07% for the quarter under review. Further, the consensus mark for Specialty P&C Segment’s operating income signals a more than 23% year-over-year deterioration, making an earnings beat uncertain.

How Did Other Stocks Perform?

Here are some other stocks in the broader Finance space that have already reported earnings for this quarter: CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO - Free Report) , American International Group, Inc. (AIG - Free Report) and The Allstate Corporation (ALL - Free Report) .

CNO Financial reported fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.31, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 22.4%on the back of increased collected premiums across annuity, life and health products, driving an increase in total insurance policy income. Growth in fee revenues and a decline in overall expense level also contributed to the upside. However, the positives were partly offset by softer investment results. 

American Internationalreported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS of $1.30, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.2% supported by new business production, robust retention and lower expenses. Lower premiums and high catastrophe charges partially offset the positives.

Allstate reported a fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted net income of $7.67 per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.8% on the back of growth in premiums and improved underwriting income and investment income. However, the upside was partly offset by elevated catastrophe losses and increased costs and expenses.

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